of yours?" Manning said. "Ahh," said Mickey Hatchet, making a sound of disgust in his throat. The girl had edged closer to him and he reached out and gave her a shove. "Hon-ey," she said plaintively in protest. Her voice came from the back of her throat and sounded like she was in the grip of a personal emotional crisis. "I hate to intrude on your love life," Manning said drily, "but I would like to know about that ship you were tailing." "Sure. That guy that bombed your place, he barrelled out of there like a shot. But I was on his tail and stuck there as close as a bill collector ... get out of here." The last was to the redhead who was edging up again. "Hon-ey," the girl said. "Dames," said Mickey Hatchet in disgust. "Anyway, there we were—cutting around through that asteroid field like a couple of kids playing hide-and-seek. And all the time this dame was a stow-away on my ship—beat it, baby." "Hon-ey," the girl said. "Scram out of here," Mickey Hatchet said to the redhead. "I'm trying to talk to the man." "Hon-ey," the girl said, starting to edge up again. "I'll plow you," Mickey Hatchet spat. The girl didn't stop. Mickey Hatchet drew a gun, leveled it and pulled the trigger. The girl fell to the floor, twitched a few times and then was quiet.[12] There was a hole in her belly and the blood was oozing out. Mickey Hatchet used his foot to slide the body into the escape hatch. He kicked a lever and the body shot out into space. "The garbage detail can pick her up tomorrow," he said. He patted his gun. "This is the one thing that never fails me in handling those dames. Now where was I?" [12] Mickey Hatchet was actually not as harmful as it might seem. The only thing that made him trigger happy was the attention of undraped females. Very few girls had conducted themselves in this manner for years, if they ever had, so they were fairly safe. The redhead was, in truth, a cleverly-made robot. The producer of the Mickey Hatchet visiscreen show had a number of these robots made up each year and planted in strategic spots. They were activated by Mickey Hatchet's presence. He never knew the truth of the matter, but the robots did a lot to keep him happy. "Playing hide-and-seek, I think," Manning said. He had been fascinated by the
Prev.
Back
Top