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16

The inside of the museum was pleasantly cool. It was quiet, like the inside of a church, and refreshing after the hustle and bustle of the streets outside. It was the middle of the week, and outside of a few maintenance bots, Dee had the place to herself. She took a moment to enjoy it.

The museum and the things in it represented a whole universe of knowledge and experience denied Dee due to her childhood. Someday she'd have the time and money to learn. But not now. Now there were other things to do.

The better part of a week had passed since they had delivered the Princess Claudia to the Imperial navy yard on IW-72 and made their way to Pylax.

After refueling Junk and performing some much-needed maintenance, the crew went dirtside for a hero's welcome. Everyone except Lando, who remained behind to keep an eye on the ship and avoid bounty hunters.

Dee looked around the cavernous lobby and wondered if Lando liked museums. Somehow she thought he would. This one had high-vaulted ceilings. There was no ornamentation, no fixtures, nothing.

The chem-painted walls produced a soft white light that seemed to come from everywhere at the same time. It oozed from ceiling and walls to balance itself out and erase shadows. In this museum every painting, every sculpture, would receive equal treatment, and leave nothing in dark corners.

Dee's boots made a clacking sound on the marbled floor as she approached the floating sculpture. Although it seemed real, the art was purely electronic, and would vanish at the touch of a button.

 

Manifesting itself as a silver ball the electro-sculpture was pierced here and there by irregular holes. Dee looked through them and saw herself peering back.

She looked around for the vid cams that must be there but couldn't see them.

The sculpture reminded her of Cy. Thanks to unending praise from Captain Neubeck and his status as a cyborg, the engineer had been the very center of all the press attention. The near calamity was a big story and was making its way through the empire just as fast as the newscorp message torps could carry it.

So Cy was a hero, a situation that he found to be more than a little amusing, and tended to play down. But modest or not there was no escaping the press and at this very moment the engineer was attending a luncheon in his honor.

Cap would be there too, along with Melissa, and together the three of them would receive a really huge salvage check from the Empire Line. All had expected a lengthy wait before seeing the money. But thanks to the press attention and Captain Neubeck's urging, the company had settled right away.

It was not Dee's kind of affair, and thanks to her secondary role, she'd been able to beg off. And since she couldn't return to Junk until the others were done, the art museum made a wonderful sanctuary.

Dee had always enjoyed sculpture, especially the kind you could see with your hands as well as your eyes, and was soon lost in a room full of abstract shapes.

The sculptures came in a wonderful variety of materials, ranging from native stone, to wood, to metal and fused glass. Many were imbued with mechanical motion, or stood on rotating platforms, twirling for her inspection.

Maybe that's why she missed the gleam of light on chrome, the surreptitious movement, and the faint whine of servos.

Whatever the reason Dee was completely unprepared when Jord Willer stepped out from between two sculptures and pointed the automatic shotgun her way.

She turned and looked for a way out but found there were two people behind her. One was a hard-looking woman dressed in slug-proof monster skins from the planet Swamp. Her body seemed to shimmer as the skins tried to match the background. At times it looked as though her head was floating in midair.

But there was no mistaking the blaster or the skillful way she held it.

Her companion was different. A tall, slender man in a black frock coat. He was armed but with what? There was no way to tell. The man had hooded hawk eyes, a predatory nose, and a smile that held little humor.

Turning back toward the cyborg Dee prepared to die. After all she'd blinded Willer's ship and humiliated him. It was part of her profession, part of the unwritten code, kill or be killed.

Dee had lived with the code for years now and felt little more than a sense of mild regret. She'd never know where things might have gone with Lando, never know if another life was possible, never know what could've been.

Then those thoughts were gone, replaced by a computerlike analysis of movements and trajectories. Yes, there were three of them, enough to kill her, but they'd pay a price. One, maybe two, would die with her. The first would be Willer.

"Ah yes," Willer said sarcastically. "The bounty hunter figures the odds, and prepares to take someone with her. Me perhaps? Yes, of course. But wait . . . perhaps she should think . . . consider the fact that my finger is already on the trigger. Better yet, maybe she should listen, and see if death is the only choice."

Dee felt her heartbeat slow just a hair. The borg wanted to talk, some sort of a deal perhaps, more time in any case. She forced a grin.

"It seems you have my full attention. What's on your mind?"

The shotgun dropped a little but still pointed in her general direction. Willer smiled. "Don't get the wrong idea, I do want to kill you, but I want something else even more."

"The Star of Empire"

"You're very perceptive. If it still exists, I want the Star of Empire just as much as Sorenson does, but for different reasons. What he lost was a reputation he didn't deserve, and a job he hadn't done for years.

"What I lost was a good deal more. I lost my body, my center of being, my image of myself.

"Do you know what that's like? To lose the picture you have of yourself?" Willer shook his head.

"No, of course you don't. It's something only cyborgs understand.

"Well, Sorenson took it from me. He took my life, my future, and my dreams. So I want the Star. I want her for the money, for the pleasure of having her, and to keep her out of Sorenson's drunken hands."

Willer stared into Dee's eyes as if trying to impress his thoughts on her by force of will. "I'll tell you something, bounty hunter, something I've never shared with another living soul. I'm convinced that somehow, some way, Sorenson knows where the Star is located. Weird, huh? But I feel it and know it's true."

Dee swallowed hard. On the one hand it seemed as if Willer was more than a few planets short of a full system. On the other hand there was the matter of Sorenson's coordinates. What if they were real? She played along.

"So? Where do I come in?"

"You have an opportunity," Willer answered softly. "An opportunity to live and profit in the process. Thanks to the salvage Sorenson has more money than ever before. He'll use it to resume the search. Soon, within days, he'll head for the asteroid belt. You'll go with him. My crew and I will follow. Then, when the critical moment arrives, you'll strike from within."

Dee considered the cyborg's proposal. What he wanted her to do was no worse than many things she'd done in the past. Still, the thought of Lando, of Melissa, even of Cap hardened her resolve. She would not betray her friends.

Fine, but should she lie? Tell him what he wanted to hear? Buy time? No, something about him, something about his expression, demanded the truth. Dee got ready to pull her gun. She gestured with her left hand to pull his attention away from her right.

"Thanks, but no thanks, I'll take my chances right here."

Time stretched thin. Dee waited for the cyborg to move, waited for the slug between the shoulder blades, waited to give and receive death. It never came. Willer allowed the barrel of his shotgun to fall toward the floor.

"You gave the correct answer, bounty hunter. I place no value on words said under duress. But I believe in you. I believe in your hunger, your need for more, your predatory instincts.

"So I make you this offer: When the time comes, take my part, and I'll give you ten percent of whatever's realized.

"Right now you say no, but during the coming days you'll think about it, dream about it, and want it. In the end you'll make the right decision."

Dee looked over her shoulder at the man and woman, then back to Willer. "Am I free to go?"

Light rippled off the cyborg's upper torso. For one brief moment he looked like one of the sculptures that surrounded him. Then he spoke. "No, there's one more thing."

Strong arms grabbed Dee from behind. She struggled but it was too late. The man and woman had her.

Willer approached until his Adonis-like features were only a foot away. His words came out like the hiss of a snake. "Even though I desire your cooperation I cannot allow your actions to go unpunished."

He gave a twisted smile. "It would set a bad example for the others."

The cyborg held up a hand. There in his huge palm Dee saw a small disk. It was secured to his middle finger by a ring.

"You know what this is?"

Dee felt something heavy fall into her gut. "A neuro-stim."

"That's right. A little reminder of what happens to those who cross me."

Willer placed both hands on either side of her head much like a parent preparing to kiss a small child. Dee felt the disk free itself from the ring and bond to her skin.

Willer stepped back. "Until we meet again."

The pain came like a white-hot spear. It filled her brain with fire and ran like molten metal through every nerve. Her body jerked and spasmed. She staggered around in circles, bumped into a large sculpture, and sent it crashing to the floor. With darkness came relief.

When Dee awoke it was to the feeling of movement and cold stone under her cheek. Something had her by one foot and was dragging her across the floor.

Sitting up she saw that a medium-sized maintenance bot had spotted her, taken her for a drunk, and was dragging her toward the door.

"Hey! Stop that! Let go!"

The sound of her voice made Dee's head throb but had the desired effect. The maintenance bot dropped her foot and whirred away. A couple of other robots were struggling to right a fallen statue. There was no sign of Willer or his crew.

Dee ached all over. She checked for injuries. There were none as far as she could tell. Neuro-stims were incredibly painful but left no bone or tissue damage. Unless you broke something while thrashing around, that is.

Dee felt dizzy. It took a while to stand up. Finally she made it. Staggering past the sculptures, past the electro-sculpture, she made it to the door. It slid aside.

Outside it was bright and sunny. The warmth felt good on Dee's face.

The tender had been back for an hour now. Cy was puttering around the drive room, Melissa was tucked into bed, and Cap had passed out. It was amazing that he could even walk much less fly the tender.

There was a tap on the door frame. Lando didn't turn. He continued to stuff clothes into a duffel bag. "Yes?"

"I wondered where you were."

Dee's voice was level but he sensed the tension. He knew what she really meant but refused to acknowledge it. How could he? How could he do anything with a price on his head?

"Just gathering up some odds and ends. It's amazing how much baggage you can collect in a short period of time."

Dee lounged in his doorway. "Yes, and how easily you can leave it all behind."

Lando turned. "That's not fair, Della. I don't want to run. But I haven't got much choice. I've got some money now, enough to get a long ways away, far enough to start over."

Her red hair shimmered as Della shook her head. "It won't work, Pik. I found you, and others will too. There's thousands of bounty hunters out there. How many can you kill before they kill you? Very few will give up a rich bounty for your questionable charms."

There, it was out in the open, for better or worse. There was a long silence as each searched the other's eyes. It was a turning point, a critical moment in both lives, and each of them knew it.

Dee had considered telling Lando about Willer, about the neuro-stim, but decided to wait. It was something he needed to know, but not here, not now.

Now she wanted a decision based on emotions other than anger at what Willer had done to her, and fear of what he might do to Cap and Melissa.

Lando spoke first. "I wondered if you'd come with me . . . but didn't dare ask. I don't have much to offer."

Dee smiled softly. "You have yourself. You're worth money. That's more than most men can say."

Lando laughed. "All right then, come with me! We'll find something out along the rim, a little freight line maybe, or a farm."

Dee shook her head. "It won't work, Pik, not until you get the price off your head."

"So what's the alternative?"

"Stay aboard, save your money, hire a good lawyer."

"And in the meantime?"

"And in the meantime we'll see. Good things take time."

Lando walked over to the hatch. Dee stepped into his arms.

"How much time?"

"As much as it takes."

"You're beautiful, but frustrating."

She smiled. "I'm glad you noticed."

Dee started to say something else but Lando's lips covered hers and the words were forever lost.

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Framed