The Time Free Zone. Gregory J. McKenzie
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Название: The Time Free Zone

Автор: Gregory J. McKenzie

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Научная фантастика

Серия:

isbn: 9781922355690

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ bit to the best ship's crew in this galaxy. We will catch those Space Imps in open space with no chance of escape by them going to light speed."

       With that, the Investigator left the meeting to return to the planet's surface.

       After the water transfer was completed the galaxy class ship powered away from the planet. When it was clear of any satellites it went to light speed. Then, once out of scanner range of the planet, it did a loop that brought it back to a point in time-space that hid it behind a large moon. There it waited for its prey.

       The space imps ships came by a little time later. Caught completely by surprise, their captains only became aware of the trap when they were crowed by surrounding moons and asteroids. Not able to safely jump to light speed they had to try and fight their way to free space. Overpowered by the superior weaponry of the galaxy class ship the space imps ships were completely immobilized. Boarding party had little trouble with the space imps as their ships now sat under the weapons of the powerful galaxy class ship.

       After formerly charging every crew member with offences including aggravated violence, kidnapping, theft and various other acts of piracy, the Investigator settled down to send out his arrest report.

       His space ship rendezvoused with the other two galaxy hunter ships. They had equal success but at a much higher cost in unintended causalities. By the time all three galaxy class ships had returned to Galaxy Central, there was a large number of accused persons for galaxy legal section to process. This meant that the Investigator's possible court date was many cycles away. He applied for and was granted temporary home planet leave.

       Once he had returned to duty, the Investigator documented his cases. Then he sat back at Investigation Central to wait his turn in the longest running space piracy litigation in galaxy history. His many cases took up most of his time over many cycles.

       Only much later was he at last able to talk to his new friend. The Captain of the galaxy ship that had so ably handled the capture of three pirate ships was now famous in military circles.

       The Investigator offered to pay for food and drink at a catch up session. The Captain finally took him up on that offer. They met at a civilian eatery to minimize the chances of either one of them being ambushed by colleagues. The Investigator was genuinely happy to see his friend. So his greeting was effusive, if a bit off beat,

       "You old space dog, it's great to see you outside official duties. But how did you put on so much weight so quickly?"

       Getting the intent of this jibe, the Captain responded in curt but not in an unfriendly manner. His comeback was cutting but not brutal, when he said,

       "At least I did not become stupid overnight like someone I could mention. But it is good still to see you in such casual clothes. Where can I get that style of dress. Its late Twenty-Fifth Century isn't it? My ancestors wore something like that back in our dark age."

       Ready to banter all night with this friendly sparing partner, the Investigator laughed out loud before conceding defeat. He put his hands up palm outwards as he said,

       "Okay you win that round. Now, before the second round starts, how about some liquid refreshment?"

       To a space veteran this was definitely the right sort of invitation to break the ice. So the Captain said,

       "You're paying right? Then I will have the most expensive drink this place has to offer."

       More of a chortle now escaped from the Investigator's mouth as he nodded before saying,

       "I thought that is what you would want, so I ordered a double for both of us."

       This seemed to act as some sort of signal to the drinks waiter because the drinks robot turned up at that exact moment with their drinks.

       As the Captain drained perhaps the most expensive drink he had ever consumed, the calming effect was obvious. By the time he had emptied his container a smile was entrenched on his facial features. Relaxation signs seemed to spread across his whole massive frame. When he tried to speak he found he was too relaxed to joke in any coherent manner. So the Captain gave up witty retorts to simply say,

       "That has to be the best drink in the galaxy. What do they call it?"

       Laughing with genuine pleasure, the Investigator said,

       "Its full name is unpronounceable in most galaxy languages. I can give you its binary code number latter for your future enjoyment of what is essentially the juice of perhaps the most revolting looking species in the galaxy. It was some fanatical astro-biologist who discovered that, if this species was in extreme danger, male members of that species excreted this juice. Some vain attempt, I think, to convince a predator not to kill it."

       Cringing at images in his head, the Captain said,

       "Way too much information my friend. Please leave me with some illusions, so I can go on drinking this amazing liquid. Now tell me what you thought of all those show trails we just witnessed."

       Thanking his lucky icons that they were not anywhere official, the Investigator said,

       "So you did notice the farcical nature of the prosecution case? What the blue moon happened there I like to know? It was an open and shut conviction for all of the accused. Yet only the simple space crew members were sent to a galactic prison. Not one of the ship captains was even convicted. I cannot explain what happened any more than you can my esteemed Captain."

       Not deceived at this late attempt at levity, the Captain said,

       "There was some political deal done that we know nothing about. All the captains have now been commissioned as galaxy space navigators. Can you believe that piece of space junk? They are now supposed to be on our side."

       Shaking his head, the Investigator said,

       "Incredible outcome! No matter what way you look at it. Almost as if that was the plan from the very beginning. Why send us to capture pirates then only imprison a token number? Makes no sense."

       They both stopped talking at the next round of drinks arrived. Due to the Investigator's limited budget this round was much less expensive. A common enough drink for hard drinking people nonetheless, so both of them took their time consuming this cheaper less palatable liquid now in their containers.

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