Hard Luck Hank Screw the Galaxy(93)

“Yeah. But they want to lease the telescopes from us,” I cautioned.

Everyone looked as if I was speaking a foreign language.

“So why are you wearing that uniform?” Rendrae asked, unconvinced.

“There’s some stuff I need to organize here. I can’t go bossing a bunch of military groups around as just some normal person.”

“You negotiated this?” Tamshius asked in awe.

“Yes,” I said, still waiting impatiently for realization.

“So we flushed all our product for nothing?” a fat boss named Ameda asked.

“You can make it back!” I shouted.

“Do you have any paperwork on this?” Garm asked.

I threw a copy of the declaration on a nearby table. I didn’t walk away, feeling I was at least no longer in danger of being killed.

A crowd gathered around the documentation.

“We can do illegal activities here?” Leeny tried to confirm.

Before I could talk, Garm spoke for me.

“We can do anything we want. Hell, we can advertise we’re illegal, because it won’t be illegal here. We can be a damn trade hub, provided we can get more Portals online.”

“Exactly,” I said, glad my labors were finally getting some appreciation.

“What is it you have to do?” Rendrae asked with slit eyes.

“I need to deal with that Dredel Led that’s still running around.”

The bosses were either reading the document, talking rapidly with one another, or were deep in thought. No one was by the windows anymore.

“When is the Navy leaving, Hank?” Big Moff asked.

“Right after they take care of the Boranjame,” I said.

The enthusiasm evaporated from the room like a fart sucked into space.

“What?” Garm asked.

“Yeah, you know that activity you were monitoring out there?” I told her.

“Oh, no,” she said, looking defeated.

“There’s a Boranjame ship coming?” the bartender asked, as he paused handing out bad sandwiches.

“Not exactly here,” I corrected. “In this general area.”

“What a load of nonsense,” Rendrae grumbled. “They conned you. They got you to gather all the resistance together for a mortal strike. They’re probably waiting outside right now.”

I sighed and put away my pistol and took out my shotgun.

“Is that Navy armor?” I asked Rendrae, my gun pointed at him.

“No, I’m not wearing any,” he lied, his hands up.

A few men went back to the windows to peek out.

“The resistance is officially over. As of now. No soldier will shoot at you if you don’t shoot at any soldier. Do you think that whole fleet of ships came here because of Belvaille? The fuel costs alone to get them here were like …you know, a lot. If you want to resist something, resist the Boranjame.”

“Hank,” Garm said. “If they’re really coming, you have to know we’re going to be killed. This,” she said, holding up the treaty, “doesn’t mean anything.”

“Have some faith, Garm. But first I’m going to need everyone’s cooperation.”





CHAPTER 40


The criminal element of Belvaille could be enormously helpful to the Navy. We knew the station and already had a perfect command structure in place via the gangs. Every citizen could be mobilized if we just enlisted the bosses.

Therefore, I deputized the bosses and gave them permission to restart all activities—the entertainment would help lower tensions and the revenue would earn Belvaille’s trust. But the primary goal was to assist the military with whatever they needed. We had to quickly convert Belvaille into a full-service drydock.

Delovoa had been eating his sandwich quietly in the corner as I was putting this together. When people departed, I went to him to start the difficult phase. Garm stayed as well.

“So how likely is it you can talk to your Dredel Led and stop it?” I asked him.

“Not likely at all. On further thought, I think it’s malfunctioning. Or in some kind of circuit loop. It’s probably not going to acknowledge any more commands until it’s done,” he said.

“Done what?” Garm asked.

Delovoa shrugged.

“Destroying the station? I don’t know, honestly.”

“You don’t seem too concerned,” I jabbed.

“I’m just burnt out. Imagine waking up every morning and seeing it standing over you.”

“What did you first tell it to start it going?” Garm asked.

“I don’t know, exactly. I was mixing parts of words. But I was trying to say ‘kill.’”

“Why were you telling it that?” Garm shouted, throwing her arms up.

“This was when we were trapped by the Navy at Delovoa’s hideout,” I explained.