By Honor Betray'd: Mageworlds #3 Read Online Free

“‘Last Exits’? What have we got there—mortuary services?”
    “Not exactly,” Beka said.
    “What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?”
    “Well … some of the higher-class firms do include final disposition in their package deals.”
    “Package deals,” said Jessan. “Packages of what?”
    Beka’s lips twitched in a humorless smile. “Executions. Formal, semiformal, or impromptu, all nice and legal.”
    “How charming.”
    “This is Suivi Point, remember—if you can’t buy it here, it’s not for sale anywhere.”
    Jessan looked curious. “I suppose you have to buy a trial and a conviction first?”
    “It helps.”
    A little farther on, the glidewalk for Main Docking split off the primary track. The stores alongside changed from gaudy souvenir shops to cheap eating establishments and grim-looking transient hotels. Sealed airlocks broke the graffiti-stained walls at irregular intervals.
    Beka pointed at one of the locks. It had a sign stenciled on the hatch: CAUTION! P-SUIT AREA. NO GRAVITY OR ATMOSPHERE BEYOND THIS POINT.
    “You have to watch those. Sometimes the portside kids take the warning signs down for laughs.”
    “I’ll bear that in mind,” Jessan told her. “Along with all the other quaint local customs.”
    Beka chuckled. “Not the sort of place the group tours from Khesat make a habit of visiting, I suppose.”
    “I have never,” said Jessan, “traveled anywhere with a group tour. And while the Space Force, in its infinite wisdom, sent me to a number of fascinating places, Suivi Point wasn’t one of them.”
    “Lucky you. I got Suivi Point for my very first port call after I left home. It was a real eye-opener, let me tell you—if Ignac’ hadn’t been looking after me that time, I might never have made it back to the ship.”
    “Then I owe Gentlesir LeSoit a debt of gratitude,” Jessan said with a marked lack of enthusiasm, as they followed a smaller glidewalk off the main branch. “Remind me to pay it back to him someday.”
    They stopped in front of an airlock door with a security palmplate set into the hatch. Beka put her hand on the plate; it beeped, and the synthesized voice of the door’s annunciator said, “ID scan confirmed. Docking bay atmospheric integrity confirmed.”
    “Good,” said Beka. “I’d hate to think that somebody had let all our air out while we were gone. That happened to the Claw Hard once, while I was crewing on her,” she went on while the lock cycled them through. “Captain Osa didn’t want to put up the nonrefundable one-week deposit on the docking fee when we were only going to be here for two days. So the Port Authority depressurized our bay until he handed over the money.”
    “Somehow I’m not surprised,” murmured Jessan.
    Inside the docking bay, Warhammer rested on landing legs beneath the transparent dome. On the far side of the enclosed space another airlock, this one with its NO GRAVITY OR ATMOSPHERE warning still fresh and clean, led out to the asteroid’s surface.
    The ’ Hammer ’s ramp was down, but the force field was up. It took Beka’s hand on another ID panel to turn off the field so that she and Jessan could pass through.
    An unfamiliar p-suit hung in the open locker inside the ’ Hammer ’s door. Beka and Jessan glanced at each other.
    “Looks like our problem is a visitor,” Jessan said.
    “Not to mention somebody Ignac’ doesn’t think he can handle all on his lonesome,” Beka said. “Which means that shooting him, her, or it won’t be an option for us, either.”
    “It’s always possible that they mean us no ill will.”
    “Hah. Legit business shows up at the place in town, like our old buddy damn-him-for-interrupting-breakfast Tarveet. We might as well go on into the common room and see who’s there.”
    As she spoke, Beka checked the knife up her left sleeve. Maybe the Domina of Entibor-in-Exile couldn’t get away with a tied-down blaster, but she was damned if she was going to walk around Suivi