Read Conviction for Free Online Page B

senses on alert.
    “Look, lady.” A hand drops on my shoulder. “We—”
    Before he can tell me what “we” want, I drive the stock of my carbine into his gut, then spin around and drop him in the dirt with a leg sweep. The eye of my barrel comes to rest between his.
    “Don’t hurt me!”
    Surprised, I realize it’s the younger boy. Jerking my eyes toward the older one, who remains beside the quad, I realize he’s too shocked to move. This one is clearly still a kid, nothing hard or adult in his smooth, hairless baby face. In fact he looks exactly like a scared child with a psycho bitch pointing a gun at his head should.
    Taken aback a little by my own instant ferocity, I move a step away and swing the carbine up to my shoulder. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”
    Soltznin has drawn her Bowker and holds it with the barrel toward the ground, her finger locked on the trigger. The look in her eyes isn’t one of surprise or concern for our well-being. It’s pure disgust, but directed at whom?
    The older boy’s paralysis breaks, and he rushes up to the younger one’s side. “Pete, you okay? Jesus, lady, he’s just a kid,” he admonishes me, his voice stripped of the tough-guy attitude.
    Getting back on his feet, the younger boy dusts himself off. Slightly chagrined but looking determined, he continues, “I just wanted to say we know someone who can maybe help you with your transport.”
    “And who’s that?” My voice is a flat threat, letting them know that any patience for tricks I had got dropped in the dirt along with the kid.
    “Our dad. He’s not a regular trader, mind you.”
    The word slaver flits through my mind again.
    Soltznin says, “Ignore them, Erikson. Nothing but scavengers. We need to find someone authentic.”
    “No, no, c’mon! Too many ships been coming through lately, if you visit the regular traders, they’ll give you next to nothing. My dad can give you top dollar.”
    “No thanks,” Soltznin says and starts walking again.
    I stare at the boy’s face, full of disappointment and possibly desperation, for another second. Why is he so keen on having our business? Do we look vulnerable, easily taken advantage of? Or is he desperate for another reason? And could that work to our advantage?
    “Hold up, Soltznin. Take us to your dad, kid. But if you and your brother”—I lay a frank glare, full of the promise of reprisal, on the older boy—“do anything I don’t like, I guarantee I’ll get even in ways that make watching porn the closest you’ll ever get to hooking up with a girl. You read me?”
    The youngest one swallows with obvious fear, but the older one rearranges his features to look hard-bitten again. Without a word, he steps over to the quad and shuts off the holovid. Pete joins him and gets up on the passenger seat, turning his eyes to us and waiting.
    Soltznin steps over and grips my arm. “We don’t need to take chances like this. There must be dozens of other options.”
    I match her low tone. “Yeah, but we don’t need to advertise ourselves. The more people who see us walking around, the more of a target we become. We can keep a lower profile this way, and maybe the kid’s being honest; maybe they can offer a better deal. Nothing to lose, if not. We’ll just cut them loose and look for a better buyer on our own.”
    Her frustration isn’t hidden, but she says nothing more.
    “How far?” I ask, approaching the quad.
    “Just at the end of that lane,” the oldest answers and points to the side street opposite the one Soltznin and I had intended. “You can both sit on the top of our water tank. I’ll go easy.”
    If you’re setting us up, kid, I won’t.

5
DEATH'S DOOR
    I’d informed David of the plan on our way down the street, and now we sit inside a modest four-room dwelling, made from the same hard rock as most of the other buildings, across from a middle-aged man with yellow-white hair and eyes with sclera to match. The air has a sour smell,