Freer Snippets

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 19 Goth could see that it was more than just a question of getting out of the cabin. They could hardly run this rig without at least some of the crew of the ship, if not the captain, being in the know. And in space… well, the captain was the law, the judge, the jury and even the executioner if need be. Goth could take the Egger route out of here, or could simply vanish with a light-shift. But that wouldn't exactly help Mindi. The kidnap gang could easily kill her to do away with a witness, and dump her out of an...

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 18 Chapter 6 Goth embarked on the sheen clipper Sheridan. It was racing to get its cargo of fresh sheen to Morteen, the provincial capital of the Empire's southwestern sector. Morteen, when she looked it up was described as tropical to hyper-tropical, and conveniently situated to… a list of other worlds, some of which Goth had even heard of. On the hubward fringe of human space, it was a space navy base, with valuable minerals, large flying bugs, lots of money and lots of heat. A great place to sell sheen, in...

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 17 Once they got up to the ridge line the full blast of the night wind nearly froze him again. But at least they were walking downhill now, and Nady was using a small atomic light to show the stark terrain. Suddenly he stopped dead. "Back up slowly," he said. "There's a porpentile by the trail." Pausert stared but couldn't see anything. "Where?" he asked as they retreated. Nady pointed. "Just there. Look. The rock is too smooth. The edge is wrong." Pausert still couldn't see anything and said so. "Wait until...

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 16 "Sub-radio, a coded narrow-beam. When your ship landed and I obtained a picture of her, details of the crew and vid image of you and Ta'zara. I sent the details through to my employer, Sedmon of the Six Lives. He guessed Karres would become involved, and he warned me to give you my fullest cooperation." "Oh." That made a kind of sense. Uldune was still heavily involved in smuggling, even if it had -- at least for now -- withdrawn from piracy. And it seemed this was a very lucrative trade. "You may not believe...

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 15 "What?" said the Planar-faced man, looking puzzled. "I c'n threaten you!" offered the scarecrow, generously. "And I too," said Ta'zara. "You are afraid, because I was a threat on the ship. And now you have seen me on the streets." "But… but you aren't dangerous. I mean you were just helping to keep order," said one of the people they'd rescued." "But I am dangerous. The most dangerous man you may ever meet," said Ta'zara calmly. "It is to whom I am dangerous that you do not know. But the police will believe...

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 14 Chapter 5 Captain Pausert found himself up before Judge Amorant -- very briefly. The judge wasn't much interested in keeping them in prison. Unfortunately the prosecutor was not of the same mind. "I see no reason why bail should not be granted," said the judge, looking at the papers. "Your Honor, they pose a serious flight risk. They have a spacecraft, and nothing to lose," said the prosecutor. The judge sighed. "Bail is granted with the conditional limitation that the prisoners not be permitted to pass...

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 13 "And do the Empire's police do have a problem with that?" asked Pausert, reading her tone. "She's a little girl, Chief-Inspector. Not a drug lord or a pirate captain." "It does make me wish to know who her father is -- and why she's on your ship. But that is my job. To notice odd things and to find out answers." Pausert wondered if he hadn't been too clever himself, again. But that was part of being a Karres operative -- trying to out-think your foes, and finding out that what you were really good at was...

The Shaman of Karres - Snippet 12 "I see. But what has this got to do with me? Or your reaction to the lifecraft?" asked Pausert. "On board that life-craft was another powerful and wealthy man. Also a Counsellor. Counsellor Bormgo," explained the policewoman. "The lucky escape he had from space-pirates was all over the newscasts this morning," said the other representative of the police, pulling a wry face. "He was transporting a valuable cargo -- a packet of catalyst. The fluoro-flower granules he had remain the property of the concession...