Read Daisy Wong, Space Marshal: The Case of the Runaway Concubine for Free Online Page B

volunteered to risk a third, who'd bolted from his
house, who'd endured untold pain and anxiety to bring her baby to term, who'd
murdered Ray Gilmore, and who'd evaded Snakeskin's dragnet for months on end. 
Giving birth often changed women, but in Meizhen's case—
    A buzzer sounded.
    Jimmy Fingers said, "He's getting impatient.  Maybe we'd
better go in."
    Daisy gave the baby a long, hard look, and then did the same
to Meizhen Fitzgerald.  Nothing.  There ought to have been something, some
trace, but there was absolutely nothing.
    Daisy wished they'd done body scans.
    Why hadn't they?
    Because scans wouldn't have done any good.  The Himalayan
Android Works was too good to be caught out by something as pedestrian as a
scan.
    Bitsy opened the inner door, and Daisy surreptitiously
dropped her hand onto her blaster.  She gave it a little tug, enough to loosen
it in its holster.
    "My love and my child," Snakeskin said, and held out
his arms to embrace Meizhen and the baby.  His face radiated happiness and
familial pride.  "Welcome home!"
    "Never, you son of a bitch!" Meizhen screamed, and
hurled the baby at Snakeskin.
    Ralph and Bitsy dove at Snakeskin, not in attack, but in order
to knock the baby off to one side and to shield Snakeskin.
    Daisy and Muffy drew their blasters, but they couldn't
shoot.  The baby, certainly rigged to explode, was hidden behind Ralph and
Bitsy.  Worse, even if Daisy and Muffy had had a clear line of fire, the baby
was directly between them and Snakeskin.  If they shot at it and missed, they
were certain to hit Snakeskin.
    Meizhen produced two miniature blasters.  She spun and shot
Jimmy Fingers, dropping him to the floor.
    Daisy and Muffy opened up on her, space-marshal style.  They
aimed and fired, deliberately, making each of their shots count, refusing to waste
any of them.
    Meizhen swung around and began firing at Ralph, Bitsy, and
Snakeskin.
    She was taking hits from Muffy and Daisy, but she remained
on her feet, shooting as though she were alone on target range.
    Daisy was squeezing off her fourth shot when the room
exploded in a white-hot flare of noise and heat.  The blast wave hurled her
against the nearest wall.
    Her head spun and her vision tunneled down to a tiny point
of light in a field of black.
    The light winked out.
    #
    Daisy came to in a hospital bed.
    Muffy was sitting in a chair by the window.  A bandage
covered the side of her face and her left arm was in a sling.
    The air was heavy with the odors of machine oil,
electronics, and illness.
    "There was an explosion," Daisy said.  "What
happened?"
    "Meizhen exploded."
    Meizhen?  Impossible.
    "Are you sure?" Daisy asked.
    Muffy gestured with her injured arm.  "Oh, most
definitely."
    A dark wave of emotion swept through Daisy as the enormity
of what Muffy had told her sank in.  "What about the baby?"
    "He was also rigged to explode, but our shots set off
Meizhen's onboard suicide charges before she could detonate her baby.  The
doctors have defused him, and they've removed his explosives.  He's down
in the nursery."  Muffy smiled happily.  "Our exceedingly fortuitous
shots are the only reason any of us are alive."
    "What about Snakeskin?  Did he make it?"
    "He is two doors down.  The doctors expect him to make
a full recovery."
    Daisy was afraid to ask the next question, but she asked it
anyway.  "How many dead?"
    "Two.  Bitsy and Ralph.  They saved your uncle's
life."
    "Jimmy Fingers?"
    "She barbequed him like a tong kebab, but he is very
much alive and kicking up a storm.  He is looking forward to a couple of days
on life support and then a few weeks of reconstructive surgery.  But he will be
fine.  Better than new."
    "When can I see him?"
    "In a few days."
    Daisy's head was swimming, and the painkillers they'd given
her had swaddled her mind in a chemical haze second to none.
    "How long have I been out?" Daisy asked.
    "You've been in and out," Muffy said.  "Two
days."
    "Shit."
    And then, unbidden,