Read Dark Space for Free Online

nice to lie, Ethan,” Brondi said, smoothing a hand over his head of slicked back black hair. “My man, Verlin, had a talk with a very agreeable nova pilot who was more than happy to spill his guts.” Brondi gave another gaping smile and stared at Ethan with over-wide, bloodshot gray eyes that suggested heavy stim use. “Literally and figuratively, that is. Seems like you were planning to run away and join the fleet, isn’t that right, Verlin?”
    Ethan smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Look, just give me a couple more hours. I’ll sell my ship, and you’ll have your money. You can come with me, if you like.”
    Brondi raised his eyebrows in an exaggerated fashion, and his gaping smile broadened until it looked like he was trying to swallow a giant burger whole. “Yes! Yes, that’s right. I’ll come with you. Then you can sell your ship for half the money you owe me, and I’ll kill you to make myself feel better about the other half. But wait!” He frowned and began tapping his chin. “What was the name of that ship you acquired this morning, Verlin?”
    “The Atton. ”
    An icy dread slithered into Ethan’s gut.
    “Isn’t that your ship, Ethan? The one you were planning to sell?”
    “Where is she, Brondi?”
    “Where is who?” The crime boss asked with an unconvincing look of innocence etched across his fat face. “Oh, you mean your copilot! Verlin—” Ethan watched as Brondi seemed to be trying to peer over his head to get Verlin’s attention. It would have been comical were the situation not so serious, since Brondi was only about five feet tall.
    “Yes?” Verlin answered, and Ethan turned to half look at the bounty hunter.
    “I can’t recall. . . . Did you have to kill the woman on board that ship, or did she surrender the vessel willingly?”
    “She fought back, but she’s alive.”
    Brondi placed a hand on his chest and staggered back, as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from his boxy shoulders. “Thank the Immortals! What a relief! For a minute I thought . . . well, never mind what I thought—the important thing is that she’s alive!”
    “Release her to me, Brondi, and I’ll get you your money.”
    Brondi’s eyebrows arched sharply downward. “No, no, no, that’s not how this works, Ethan. And besides, how do you propose to get me my money if you no longer have a ship to sell?”
    Ethan gritted his teeth. “You can’t steal my ship and still pretend I owe you 10,000 sols. The ship is worth at least six.”
    “Who said anything about stealing? I said we acquired a ship, Verlin. Does that sound like stealing to you?”
    Verlin didn’t answer, but Ethan noted a return of Brondi’s gaping smile. “It’s all about the way you package things, Ethan. Why be so negative?”
    “It’s my ship, you dumb frek!”
    Brondi’s smile faded instantly and suddenly his bloodshot eyes were cold and stony. “No, Ethan. It’s my ship. Consider it the interest on your backdated loan payments. I should have you vivisected for speaking to me that way, but I’ll let it go.”
    Ethan’s eyes were locked on Brondi’s, meanwhile he pictured the garden square in his head, looking for an escape route. Behind him, one of the paths was cut off by Verlin. In front, Brondi had closed off the way he’d come. To either side were another two paths, apparently open, but Ethan knew better than to trust that. Brondi wouldn’t be here without his usual cadre of bodyguards. That was why the gardens were deserted. Brondi had all the entrances and exits sealed up, just as he surely had people waiting down all the ways out of the square. Not to mention that making a run for it would open him up to fire from Verlin, and the man had to be a crack shot to make a living as a bounty hunter in Dark Space. Escape wasn’t an option.
    “Did you come all this way just to kill me, Brondi?”
    The crime boss spread his hands. “No, I came all this way to acquire a new vessel for my fleet, and to