Read My Life: An Ex-Quarterback's Adventures in the Galactic Empire for Free Online

spacemen, one at the end of either leg and one in the middle. None of the three were wearing any weapons that I could see, nor were they wearing the leathery outer covering of the guards. I decided to take that as a good sign. Angel muttered something about not needing a “full dress set up,” but fell silent before he said enough to help me understand the situation.
    The conversation began when the one sitting in the middle addressed Angel. I had hoped that Angel would translate for me as they spoke, but I was disappointed in that. Apparently, the spaceman had no interest in either talking to me, or hearing anything I might have to say. As the conversation went along, Angel did less and less of the talking. Eventually, he seemed to be responding only briefly to questions. The longer it took, the more desperate I became to know what was being said. Unable to understand the words, I tried to read the Srihani’s face and became even more frustrated. He had pale skin and gray eyes on otherwise African features, which I found distracting, but what made it impossible was that his facial expressions didn’t seem to match the tones of his voice.
    If I couldn’t read the Srihani, I could read Angel, and what I saw there wasn’t promising. Angel stood ill at ease, his face growing more sullen with each exchange. Watching him, and looking at the array of spacemen in front of us, I found myself thinking that this was a kangaroo court. Perhaps, I thought in my misery, Angel had actually disobeyed orders by bringing me there. I began to wonder what horrible means spacemen might use to dispose of unwanted guests. Even the thought of facing Judge Doroty began to seem good as the tirade went on. I was actually beginning to think good thoughts about Texas justice when the Srihani stopped abruptly.
    Angel hesitated a moment before he turned to me, as though he was not quite certain that the silence would last. Finally, he said, “I told him who you are, and so forth. Basically, he says it’s cool.”
    “Angel, it sounded to me like there was one hell of a lot more than that said.”
    Angel just shrugged. “Most of that stuff is just between Gerangi and me. Nothing to do with you.”
    “Gerangi?” I asked. “I thought the captain was named Carvalho.”
    “He is, but he’s on the ship,” Angel told me. “Gerangi is the exec.”
    “Oh.” I nodded sagely, as though it actually made a difference to me who was sitting there. “Angel, just tell me straight once more, this is not some weird government thing, is it?”
    “No.”
    I’m told you can recognize a crazy by the gleam in his eyes. Angel’s eyes looked okay to me.
    “Fine. And you’re sure that all of that he was spouting there had nothing to do with me?”
    “Absolutely. You cool, man?” he asked.
    “Sure.” It seemed like a good time to lie. Actually, I was wishing that I was somewhere else, just about anywhere else.
    “Okay,” Angel said. Then he turned back to Gerangi and said something very brief.
    Gerangi grunted and nodded. I wondered whether that direction meant yes or no to a Srihani. Even on Earth, it wasn’t uniform. Before I had a chance to make up my mind, the three of them got up and filed out, leaving me alone with Angel.
    “Okay Angel, now that they’re gone, will you tell me what that was all about?”
    “Sure.” He picked at some dried blood on his cheek. “It was no big deal. I told Gerangi about you and he accepted you as a member of the crew.”
    “What!” Press-ganged. Shanghaied. “You can’t do this to me!”
    Angel had a face that would never look innocent, but he did look hurt. “Come on, Danny-boy,” he said, “I offered you a job back in Cleveland. You didn’t walk out then, and I sure didn’t notice you trying to bail out of my Jeep. Besides, Gerangi wasn’t exactly ecstatic that I came back with only you. You back out now and my ass is grass. Not to mention yours.”
    Angel seemed to think better of that approach and