Part 16 (1/2)

Could have won.

'What about the rest?' suggested Robar. 'Any chance they'll up their stakes?'

Lisa shook her head. 'I've squeezed them till they squeak as it is. Zorelle's already having second thoughts; she'll use this as an excuse to pull out.' She sighed. 'I'm going to drown my sorrows. Coming?'

'When I finish up here.'

'Why bother?'

'You'll come up with something. You always do.'

Lisa went through the open airlock into the repair dock, and made her way along the metal corridors of s.p.a.ce Station Alpha to its bleak and functional bar. Good old Robar, she thought, he had more faith in her than she had herself. True, she'd squeaked through tight financial situations before. It was the last-minute nature of the let-down that was the problem.

Alexi had been due to arrive this very day, bringing his financial contribution with him. She'd been relying on it for last-minute stores, and for the all-important entry fee.

She perched on a stool, dropped the crumpled flimsy on the bar and tried in vain to attract the attention of the barman. He was busy with a party of wealthy tourists awaiting transfer to a s.p.a.celiner, and had no time for hard-up s.p.a.ce pilots. Lisa felt as if she had her credit rating tattooed on her forehead.

A voice called, 'Hey, barman. Over here.'

It was a low, rather husky voice, but somehow it caught the barman's attention.

Lisa turned and looked at the man standing beside her. He was middle-aged, medium-sized, st.u.r.dy-looking, with a pleasant, weathered face. He raised a hand and crooked his finger, and the barman, a burly four-armed Dravidean, came sulkily over, grumbling all the way.

'Doing my best, it's a busy time, only got two pairs of hands...'

'And I guess you'd like to keep them all in working order,'

said the newcomer amiably. 'The lady's waiting to be served.'

The barman opened his mouth, caught the stranger's eye and closed it again. He looked enquiringly at Lisa who stood with her mouth open. She'd been too preoccupied to think about what she wanted to drink.

'Champagne, cold, quick!' said the stranger and the barman hurried away. The man smiled at Lisa, a lazy pleasant smile.

'You look like a lady who needs champagne. I know the signs.

This the trouble?'

Calmly he picked up the flimsy and smoothed it out. He produced a pair of old-fas.h.i.+oned half-moon reading gla.s.ses and studied the message.

Lisa Deranne felt control of the situation slipping away from her. It wasn't something she was used to.

'Gentlemen don't read other people's mail,' she said severely.

The stranger peered at her benignly over his gla.s.ses. 'They don't?' he said in apparently genuine surprise. He put away the gla.s.ses, folded the flimsy neatly and returned it to her.

'Seems like you've been let down. Tough break.'

The barman appeared with the champagne, opened it with the usual flourish, put down two crystal goblets with his other hands, poured the champagne and disappeared down the bar.

The man handed Lisa a gla.s.s.

'Maybe I don't like champagne,' said Lisa perversely.

'Of course you do. Everyone likes champagne.'

Lisa drank some champagne. It was ice-cold, fizzy and delicious. 'You're absolutely right.' She took another hearty swig. 'Who the h.e.l.l are you?'

'Name's Kurt.'

'I'm '

'You're Lisa Deranne. Saw you winning the Algolian Cup on the holovids. You entering the Inter-Systems?'

'Not any more.'

'Why not?'

Lisa pointed to the flimsy. 'You just saw. My last crew member's just dropped out, taking his financial contribution with him. I could manage without the man at a pinch, but the credits are essential.'

'Maybe I can help.'

'Not unless you're an eccentric millionaire with a gap in his busy schedule and a taste for solar yacht racing.'

'Funny you should say that '

Lisa finished her champagne and stood up.

'Thanks for the drink and for trying to cheer me up. This is too serious for me to make jokes about.'

'Who's joking?' He nodded along the bar at the group of flas.h.i.+ly dressed, noisy tourists. 'I'm booked on a luxury three-planetary tour with those creeps. If I have one more day of them I'll start chucking them out of the airlock. Sooner go with you.'

'Ever done any solar racing?'

'A bit. Amateur stuff, but good cla.s.s.'

Slowly Lisa sat down. 'You're serious, aren't you?'

'I could be. Who else is in the crew, besides you?'

'There's Robar, my engineer, Zorelle, the designer, and Nikos and Mari.'