第97节

r the bunk,

Steve felt the wheel-boat shudder as it drifted sideways and crunched

against the timbered wharf that lay to starboard. There was a moment

of silence then' the air erupted with a muffled babble of voices,

bumps, thumps and hurrying footsteps as the process of unloading

commenced. He lay back and willed himself to wait patiently for night

to come. As the hours passed, he was sorely tempted to get out and see

what was going on but Side-Winder had shrewdly taken the precaution of

battening down the lid.

Eventually, the mexican appeared and let him out. A flickering lantern

lit the bare boxroom that served as his sleeping quarters. Between it

and the central passageway lay the second half of Side-Winder's

nautical estate - the equally small cabin which Steve had ducked into

to avoid the guards.

Side-Winder handed him a few twists of dried meat and a hunk of

flat-bread. 'Okay, this is where you get off.. End of the line."

Steve chewed on one of the twists. 'The place feels deserted."

'It is. Apart from a skeleton crew, everybody's gone ashore."

'Where do you go from here?"

'Nowhere. This is where I live." Side-Winder swept a hand round his

domain.

'Christopher! How do you stand it?"

Side-Winder laughed. 'How many Mutes do you know who have got a

two-roomed hut? And two buckets. One to crap in and one to drink out

of." He saw Steve's expression. 'Listen, I'm not complaining, if I

couldn't hack it I wouldn't have drawn this assignment. It's not so

bad. If I want fresh air or something to see I can go on deck and

every now and then I get a few hours ashore.

What I miss most is the video. The dinks don't have electricity. But

even that has its compensations. At least I don't have to listen to

that moronic musical shit the Federation pumps out. Mind you, the

stuff the dinks listen to isn't much better. To me, it always sounds

as if they've missed out half the notes."

'Okay ... I'd better get going." Steve paused hesitantly. 'You

mentioned you might be able to, uh . . ."

The mexican went into the outer cabin and returned with a set of

walking-skins.

Steve gulped down the last mouthful of food and tried them on for

size.

The skins were impregnated with the smell of their previous owner.

'Mind telling me where these came from?"

Side-Winder eyed him narrowly then relented. 'Someone took a ride on

the wheel and decided he didn't like it.

On a trip like this you always get a few cancellations." He opened the

wall-cupboard and took out two small ceramic cups and a flask. Laying

the cups on the shelf he uncorked the flask and poured out two portions

of a pale liquid.

'Here... one for the road."

Steve sniffed the cup cautiously. 'What is it?"

'Sake. It's a, uhh. medicinal restorative. It'll help keep out the

cold." Side-Winder emptied his cup in one gulp and smacked his lips.

'Good stuff. Go on, it won't kill you."

Steve raised the cup gingerly and let the liquid come in contact with

his lips. It was sweet flavoured with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Not wishing to appear frightened, he took a deep breath and swallowed

the lot.

The sake hit the back of his throat like liquid fire. He gagged in a

futile effort to stop it going any further, coughing and choking as it

came back up and entered his nasal passages. For one moment his chest

felt as if it had been stabbed with a hot knife then the sharpness

eased, blurring into a warm glow which turned his ears pink and made

Side-Winder refilled the cups. 'Alcohol. One of their better

inventions. This one is made from fermented rice.

Imagine what that would do to a wagon-load of TrailBlazers..."

'Well, I don't know how it works but it sure makes you feel good."

The mexican nodded. 'It certainly smooths off the rough edges.

Trouble is it, uhh. numbs your central nervous system and ruins your

coordination. Two is the limit. Three leaves you legless and four

puts you on the floor. I speak from experience. That's where I

usually spend my off-duty hours. In fact if it wasn't for this I'd

have taken a dive from the top deck long ago."

'No friends, no company?"

'None of your business, amigo." The mexican took Steve's cup and put