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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html
Harry Silver was lying back safe in his pilot's chair, gasping, about as safe
at home as he ever got. Inside his armor, its micro currents of air were busy
drying out his sweat.
One problem solved. But now that it was settled that he and his passenger were
going to survive for the time being, returning life
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html brought with it its own set of
difficulties. He had been forced to reveal to his passenger that his ship was
still carrying a monstrous weapon, strictly forbidden to any civilian vessel
whose crew might be desperate or near suicidal enough to want to use it. The
mere possession of it could conceivably be enough to earn him a year or two in
prison, from some judge who
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html made a strict interpretation of the
law.
Lily would hold a power of blackmail over him as soon as they came under
Space Force jurisdiction again.
But at least there was no longer any red dot swelling on the holostage. And
for the moment, that disappearance was all that counted.
"It's gone?" Lily's voice
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html was barely audible.
"It's gone. We killed it."
Harry got out of his chair and with shaking fingers started to take off his
armor. He was looking forward to a good stiff drink.
Some time later, when they were smoothly under way again, and
Harry was on his second drink, Lily surprised him.
He had been expecting
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html some question or accusation about the
cannon. Instead she observed: "You don't have a regular partner."
That was really a question, though she made it sound more like an accusation.
"Not right now."
"Except your ship, I
suppose. Sometimes you speak of her as if she were a woman."
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html
"Oh, I can tell the difference." Harry looked his human shipmate up and down.
He had long experience of the way battle, terror, and destruction sometimes
worked as aphrodisiacs.
From the look on her face, the position of her body, he judged that she was in
a kind of balance, ready to be tipped this way or that.
His passenger was
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html looking steadily at him.
He couldn't tell what might be going on inside her head. Could anyone ever
really tell about anyone else?
Finally he asked: "Great
Malakó won't mind? Or
Alan either?"
Her voice was faint and querulous. "I don't know anything about Great
Malakó. I try to read about it, but& and sometimes I think I don't
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html know anything about my husband,
either." She paused. "You have just saved my life. Again."
Harry grunted. "Right now you can be my partner in conversation.
How come you dropped out of pilots' school?
You said you only went for a standard month and a half."
"Alan was very enthusiastic about going into space work, back
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Fred Saberhagen - Berserker's Star.html when we started school.
Then he lost interest. So we both dropped out. If you are wondering whether he
will be jealous, when he finds out you and I have been traveling alone
together
 "
"I wasn't wondering. Not particularly."
"The answer is that I
don't know. I fear there are days when I am not one of his enthusiasms." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]