Read Ethan of Athos for Free Online Page B

again, less cheerfully. “No, I haven't taken up hijacking. It was sort of a necessity -- caught a plasma beam to the head in a boarding battle out Tau Verde way, a few years back. I looked a little funny with no face at all, so Admiral Naismith, who does not do things by halves, bought me a new one.
    “Oh,” said Dom, quelled.
    Ethan, who found his enthusiasm over the woman's facial aesthetics a trifle baffling, had no trouble sympathizing with this; any plasma burn was horrendous -- this one must have come close to killing her. He eyed the face with a new medical interest.
    “Didn't you start out with Admiral Oser's group?” asked Dom. “That's still his uniform, isn't it?'
    “Ah. Allow me to introduce myself. Commander Elli Quinn, Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, at your service.” She bowed with a flourish. “The Dendarii sort of annexed Oser, and his uniforms, and me -- and it's been a step up in the world, let me tell you. But I, sir, have home leave for the first time in ten years, and intend to enjoy it. Popping up beside old classmates and giving them heart failure -- flashing my credit rating in front of all the people who predicted I'd come to a bad end -- speaking of coming to a bad end, you seem to have turned your passenger here loose without a map.”
    Dom eyed the mercenary officer suspiciously. “That wasn't intended as a pun, was it? I've been on this run four years, and I am so damned tired of coming back to a lot of half-witted bend-over jokes --”
    The mercenary woman's laughter burst against the overhead girders, her head thrown back. “The secret of your abandonment revealed, Athosian, “ she said to Ethan. “Should I take him in hand, then, being by virtue of my sex innocent of the suspicion of, er, unnatural lusts?”
    “For all of me, you can,” allowed Dom, shrugging. “I have a wife to get home to.” He walked pointedly around Ethan.
    “Good-oh. I'll look you up later, all right?” said the woman.
    The crewman nodded to her, rather regretfully, and trod off up the exit ramp. Ethan, left alone with the woman, suppressed an urge to run after him begging protection. Recalling vaguely that economic servitude was one of the marks of the damned, he had a sudden horrible suspicion that she might be after his money -- and he was carrying Athos's entire purse for the year. He became intensely conscious of her sidearm.
    Amusement livened her strange face. “Don't look so worried. I'm not going to eat you,” she snickered suddenly,” -- conversion therapy not being my line.”
    “Glck,” blurted Ethan, and cleared his throat. “I am a faithful man,” he quavered. “To, to Janos. Would you like to see a picture of Janos?”
    “I'll take your word for it,” she replied easily. The amusement softened to something like sympathy. “I really have you spooked, don't I? What, am I by chance the first woman you've met?”
    Ethan nodded. Twelve exits, and he had to pick this one....
    She sighed. “I believe you.” She paused thoughtfully. “You could use a faithful native guide, though. Kline Station has a reputation for travelers' aid to uphold -- it's good for business. And I'm a friendly cannibal.”
    Ethan shook his head with a paralyzed smile.
    She shrugged. “Well, maybe when you get over your culture shock I'll run across you again. Are you going to have a long layover?” She pulled an object from her pocket, a tiny holovid projector. “You get one of these automatically when you get off a proper passenger ship -- I don't need mine.” A colorful schematic sprang into the air. “We're here. You want to be here, in the branch called Transients' Lounge -- nice facilities, you can get a room -- actually, you can get most anything, but I fancy you'd prefer the staid end of things. This section. Up this ramp and take the second cross-corridor. Know how to operate this thing? Good luck --” She pressed the map module into his hand, flashed a last smile, and vanished into another