The Pirates of Sufiro (Book 1) (Old Star New Earth) (18 page)

Within months, new mines were opened and settlers were being recruited from other human planets. Sufiro had indeed increased its output of Erdonium ten-fold. Sam Stone traveled to Earth to accept an award for his outstanding patriotism. Sufiro's World had gone from being just a place on the map to a fast growing, powerful planet. People flocked there to take advantage of the wealthy economy and easy life that implied.

Juan Raton lay in his bed. His muscles ached from a hard day of plowing the fields of the family's homestead in New Granada. His wife lay snuggled up against him. Her warmth felt good to his tired body. He thought about the children and what it would be like for them growing up as farmers on Sufiro's World. He hated the Erdonium mines. He hated what they had cost him. However, they were thousands of miles away, on the other side of the planet.

As his eyes closed for the final time, he heard a loud "whump" from the front of the house. Juan dislodged himself from the arms of his wife. She mumbled something and rolled over, pulling the blankets with her. He stepped out the front door of the adobe house into the chill night air, pulling his robe tight.

He rubbed his eyes sleepily and then started as he noticed a large carryhover sitting just beyond the trees. Juan turned to go back inside and retrieve his hepler rifle when two men jumped him from either side. They covered his mouth and drug him kicking to the carryhover. He fought and almost broke free except that two other men leapt out from behind the stand of trees and grabbed his legs. They hauled him unceremoniously to the hover and tied him up. Once he was bound, they tossed him over into the bed of the carryhover.

Juan found himself on his back looking up at the stars. He landed on his tailbone and was in pain. Struggling, he sat up and looked around. He saw two of his neighbors. Fire lit their eyes in the dark. Juan screamed his fury.

Back at the house, Armanta Raton felt around for Juan. When she realized he wasn't there, she sat up. "Juan?" There was no reply in the dark.
SHOWDOWN
Edmund Swan collapsed to his knees, vomiting. His vision

blurred and his hands trembled. A few moments later, he began to recover and a kaleidoscope of thoughts rushed through his mind. It seemed to Swan that humans invented a new way of dealing death every day. Sometimes, it was a new application of laser or EQ technology. Other times, someone found a way to kill someone with ordinary household appliances. Swan felt he had seen most of the ways a man could die. He was a deputy sheriff in Tucson, Arizona. Each time he answered a homicide call, his reaction was the same.

A hover with red and blue lights flashing on all sides descended from the orange sky. Nearby, a purple haze rose from an ancient power plant. The orange and purple met in a swirling green eddy. When the hover landed, a woman stepped out and walked over to Swan. She handed him a rag and he wiped his face and patted his uniform. After taking several deep breaths he looked up. She had dark brown hair streaked with silver. Her eyes were steel blue. She reached out a hand and helped him to his feet. She was his boss, Sheriff Wilmot. "You okay?" she asked.

Swan shook his head. "It's never easy, you know." "No, it's never easy. In fact, it gets harder each day." Her eyes bore into him. "At least I don't go puking all over the sidewalk. You're my best officer except that you can't keep your lunch down. What's the matter with you?"
He indicated the buildings around him in a sweeping gesture. "The problem is all this ... this city." He looked up. "You know Tucson used to have a blue sky."
Wilmot sighed. Swan was being sentimental. He wished for life, as it was a thousand years before. She had seen holographs of the desert around the city. There used to be blue sky and giant Saguaro cacti. Luckily a few of the giant cacti remained, but most were in the private gardens of wealthy people. What used to be two distinct cities, Tucson and Phoenix, now covered all of Southern Arizona.
Wilmot looked back to Swan. "Are we going to get onto this murder investigation or not?"
She bent over the body and studied the lacerations with care, reciting her observations to Swan. He recorded her voice with a chip in his belt. His surgically implanted computer-controlled mechanical eye recorded her movements as she examined the body. When she stood at the close of her examination, Swan turned away and closed his eyes. "I think the time has come to hand in my resignation."
"What!" Wilmot turned suddenly. She had not exaggerated when she said he was one of her best officers. She knew a number of the others dealt Aquillan love crystals or Dracan incense. Swan didn't. He was a rare honest cop on a dishonest world.
Swan swallowed then turned to face her. "I've been offered a job as the Tejan Marshal on Sufiro's World. The sky's a little on the greenish side for some people's taste, but I think I could get used to it."
"Sufiro's a pretty tough place. Are you sure about this?" She knew he was, but she would not give him up without a fight.
"It may be tough, but it's sparsely populated. There are only about five million people on the whole planet." He grinned slightly. The mechanical iris of his left eye narrowed. "There's even a plant that looks a little like the Saguaro cactus."
"What about the tensions between the two continents?"
"Mostly, it's just that—tension. New Granada was founded forty-eight years ago by a wandering band of criminals. The usual group of missionaries, traders, and farmers followed. Mostly, it's very primitive—adobe houses and the like.
"Tejo on the other hand, was founded twenty-six years ago. Many of the people are miners. They all use modern tools and equipment." Swan shrugged. "Both continents are sparsely populated by very diverse people who don't talk to each other. It doesn't sound like there's much trouble at all."
"I don't want to see you go," said Wilmot grudgingly, "but I can't think of a better man for the job." She looked at the remains of the man behind her. "Just don't vomit on any dead men."
* * * *

Edmund Swan floated next to one of the starliner's windows. Most starliners that went to the frontier conserved fuel by not running graviton generators. Actually, the ship was so old and dented, Swan wondered whether the graviton generators even worked. He watched Sufiro's World move beneath him. There were two large continents surrounded by great green-blue oceans. He held his breath, anticipating the shuttle flight that would take him down to the larger of the landmasses where he would assume his duties as the chief law enforcement official. The oily-chemical air he inhaled stung and he began coughing, longing for the fresh air below.

An adolescent boy with long, dark hair approached. Swan didn't remember seeing him during the voyage. He scratched his head, feeling the short, blond, almost military crew cut that was fashionable in Tejo. The boy's clothes were light colored and loose fitting, more appropriate to desert life than air-conditioned mines and office buildings. Swan examined the boy with his steel gray left eye. Just ahead of his field of vision floated words that said that the boy was covered in seeds and pollens indigenous to Sufiro's World. The starliner was being stocked with provisions for the return to Earth. The boy must have come from the provisioning ship that was alongside.

The boy stopped and tilted his head curiously as he looked into Swan's eyes. Most people who had artificial eye implants colored the new eye to match the old. Swan never bothered. He knew he wasn't fooling anybody, especially when each eye dilated differently. Swan's natural eye was a soft brown, in sharp contrast to the steel gray of the left eye. The boy held out a small, white envelope, then nudged it closer as Swan stared into the boys matching brown eyes. Finally, the boy let go then turned and left the way he came. The envelope floated motionless in front of Swan.

He snatched the envelope out of the air and ripped it open, removing the yellow, tattered paper inside. It read:
Señor Swan,
I have heard of you and your arrival at Sufiro. I understand that you value freedom and justice. If what I have heard is true, please arrange to meet me once you have learned the truth of Sufiro.
Gracias,
Sheriff Manuel Raton.
Swan rubbed his naked chin; his brow wrinkled at the archaic language. He knew Spanish from his classical studies training in college. He did not know people on Sufiro still used the language. Similarly, it had been years since he had heard of "The Rat." Raton was something of a legend. He was virtually the only law in New Granada. Rumor said he was sly and could be dangerous. Swan was not sure that he wanted anything to do with any truths Raton wanted to talk about. The marshal folded the note and put it in his breast pocket.
A voice sounded over the intercom, announcing that the launches would be leaving for the planet soon. Swan breathed a sigh of relief but regretted it when he felt the oily-chemical air on his tongue again. He looked at his reflection in the glass, seeing the smooth lines of his tight-fitting gray suit coat, marred only by the bulge where his pistol was. He was ready for his first encounter on Sufiro's World.
* * * *

The first truth Edmund Swan encountered on Sufiro's World was that it was hot. Sweat trickled under his svelte gray suit. The second truth he learned was that Sufiro's World was populated by a large number of small insect-like creatures attracted to human sweat.

A hulking man with light brown hair cut to the same nearmilitary perfection as his own met him at the shuttle port. Like Swan, the man wore a fashionable gray suit, but without the bulge that betrayed the existence of a pistol. The man's smile seemed too big for his face. As he got closer, Swan realized that the man had a diamond set in his right front tooth.

"How are you doing, Mr. Swan?" the man asked too loudly. He reached out and grabbed Swan's hand, locking it in a death grip. Before Swan could answer, the man continued. "I'm Sam Stone, Governor of Tejo."

"Pleased to meet you," said Swan. After a few moments of violent shaking, Stone released his hand and led Swan to a hover outside the port. He looked forward to the hover trip. There had been no windows in the launch. This would be his first view of the capitol. As they flew over Tejo City though, Swan was dismayed to see that it extended in every direction, as far as he could see. Swan realized that most of the five million people on Sufiro's World must live in Tejo City.

"What do you think of our little town?" Stone's thunderous voice startled Swan.
"It's not what I expected." He fought to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
"I'm sure it's not like Earth cities, but we're growing each and every day!" Swan wondered if Stone ever stopped smiling.
Stone piloted the hover toward a giant concrete and steel structure. The hover mated itself to a docking ring near the building's roof. The governor and marshal stepped from the hover into a large office. Swan's feet sank into the deep blue carpeting. An air conditioner ran, making him grateful for his jacket. Several valuable but uncomplimentary paintings hung on the walls. Stone sat down behind a large wooden desk; its edge was inlaid with gold. A jade-colored computer terminal surrounded by a number of valuable baubles sat atop the desk. Stone indicated a plush red chair. Swan sat, sinking so that his eyes were below Stone's.
"Impressive, ain't it?" Stone's smile shone brightly as ever. Swan nodded, more out of a sense of duty than agreement. "Sufiro is a wealthy place and I'm glad you're here to share the wealth."
"I'm here to maintain the law." Swan's voice sounded hollow in the large room.
"Indeed you are!" boomed Stone. "Tejo is one of the wealthiest places in the known galaxy. Do you know why we're so wealthy?" Swan nodded, but Stone continued anyway. "We are wealthy because we supply almost half the Erdonium necessary to build all of the EQ ships in the galaxy! You know what that means, son?" Swan started to answer but Stone cut him off. "Wealth breeds jealousy. Especially the jealousy of our closest neighbor, if you know what I mean."
Swan thought of the note in his breast pocket. "Do you mean the New Granadans have been causing trouble?" The marshal was amazed that he slipped a sentence in.
"Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not prejudiced. But wherever Grenades show up, there's trouble." Stone folded his arms.
"Grenades, sir?" Swan cocked his eyebrow.
"Grenades. You know—New Granadans. They're damned explosive over there." Stone leaned forward. "We hired you because you're the best. You're a good cop and you can lead people in a fight."
"You make it sound like you're expecting war."
"I wouldn't call it war," Stone sneered. "The New Granadans are too pitiful for that." He sat back and grinned. Swan found his computer eye analyzing the cut of the diamond in Stone's mouth. "I expect, at most, a few skirmishes."
"Senseless violence makes me squeamish."
Stone laughed. "What about violence with a purpose?"
"Sometimes it's an unavoidable part of my job."
The governor eyed Swan closely. "Just as long as you don't lose your lunch at a critical moment."
"Would it be possible to see my office?" Swan asked tentatively, anxious to change the subject.
"I like that!" Stone winked. "A man who's ready to get right down to business." He stood and led Swan through the door and down a long corridor. They turned a corner and faced a sliding door. On it was a sign that read, "Edmund R. Swan, Marshal, Republic of Tejo."
Swan stepped through the door. Though the office was bare, it was almost as big as Stone's. He said a silent prayer of thanks when Stone excused himself to attend to other business.
Swan seated himself behind the desk and activated the computer terminal. Several messages were waiting. The first said that his baggage had been delivered to his apartment. The computer flashed a map of the apartment's location. There were several messages concerning official tours. One that caught his attention was a tour of the mining operation. He instructed the computer to arrange the tour for early the following week. Finally, there were reports of several ongoing police investigations. He read them and marked his approval of how they were proceeding.
After reading the messages, Swan sat back, feeling tired. He decided the best thing to do would be to introduce himself to his deputies then retreat to his apartment where he could get some well deserved sleep.
* * * *