America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 2: Reenlistment
Read America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 2: Reenlistment Online
Authors: Walter Knight
Tags: #reenlistment foreign legion science fiction military action adventure spider aliens aliens football
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Book 2: Reenlistment
The sweeping, satirical military space saga
continues...
Decorated war hero, or war criminal guilty of
atrocities? It depends on who’s passing judgment on ex-legionnaire
Joey Czerinski.
The story of this lucky gambler turned
soldier turned casino boss picks up as he and his business partner,
Manny Lopez, find themselves broke and devastated after their
business holdings are completely destroyed by continuing spider
insurgent activity. Hidden deep underground, beneath the rubble of
their once profitable casino, is a big, big secret that could solve
their sudden financial problems, but neither Czerinski nor Lopez
can figure out how to drum up the manpower and funding to unearth
it.
Forced to find a quick source of money for a
loan, Czerinski and Lopez are lured back to the Legion by their old
friend, the slick-talking legionnaire-recruiting ATM. And then the
real trouble begins...
Follow Czerinski and his pals through their
ups and downs and continual serendipitous surprises in the next
installment of this ongoing satirical, politically incorrect,
sweeping military space opera.
Book 2: Reenlistment
Licensed and
Produced through
Penumbra
Publishing
www.PenumbraPublishing.com
SMASHWORDS
EBOOK
EDITION
ISBN/EAN-13: 978-1-935563-20-4
Copyright 2009
Walter Knight
All rights
reserved
Production /
Cover Art Direction: Judith Pilsner
Also
available in PRINT ISBN/EAN-13:
978-1-935563-21-1
This is a
work of fiction. Names, characters, planets, asteroids, alien
species, evil empires, galaxies far, far way, or future events and
incidents, are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or aliens, living
or dead, events or locales including those on Mars and New
Colorado, is entirely coincidental.
Licensing Note: This ebook is licensed and
sold for your personal enjoyment only. Under copyright law, you may
not resell, give away, or share copies of this book. You may
purchase additional copies of this book for other individuals or
direct them to purchase their own copies. If you are reading this
book but did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use
only, out of respect for the author’s effort and right to earn
income from the work, please contact the publisher or retailer to
purchase a legal copy.
~AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENT~
I dedicate
America’s Galactic Foreign Legion:
Reenlistment
to American heroes Alvin
York, Maximo Yabes, and Johnny Michael Spann. A special thanks to
editor Patricia Morrison, and my loving wife Barb, for their
support. And thank you to world-famous science fiction writer Piers
Anthony for his gracious review of my first book
AGFL: Feeling Lucky
, in
which he wrote, “It’s wild, improbable, but great
adventure.”
~Walter Knight
Book 2: Reenlistment
by
Walter Knight
CHAPTER 1
My name is Joey R. Czerinski, retired hero of
the United States Galactic Foreign Legion, and owner of a string of
upscale hotel casino resorts that stretch across the galaxy. Maybe
early retirement from the Legion made me complacent. And why not? I
was filthy rich, and had an insurance policy in the form of a
high-tech alien starship buried deep under my casino on New
Colorado, a trophy of the last human / spider war. But I was alert
now. Mafia types make me nervous. Little did I know the mobster
seated across from my office desk would set off a chain of events
that would turn my life upside down...
* * * * *
“How you doing, Mr. Czerinski? My name is
Guido Tonelli. I am an associate of Lou Nelson. Lou told me he has
done business with you, and that you might be interested in doing
business with me.”
Sitting behind my desk, I scowled at the wise
guy, recalling how the Mafia had tried to muscle in on my casino
action here on New Colorado. It took a small bloodbath to convince
them I wasn’t interested in a ‘partnership’ with them. “I doubt
you’ve got anything that would convince me to want to do business
with you and your bunch, considering our recent history.”
Guido Tonelli shifted in his chair. “I regret
any past unpleasantness. My business associates now have only the
highest respect for you and your organization. I come in good faith
to make an honest transaction.”
I snorted.
Who let this salesman in? It’s
so hard to get good help these days.
“I can sell you a computer chip that will
allow you to read the minds of alien spiders, ants, and
beetles.”
Despite my mistrust, that opportunity sounded
intriguing. “I might be interested,” I said dryly. “How is Nelson
these days? Is he still on Mars?”
“No. Lou is working in marketing out on the
beetle frontier. He owns an import-export business and is doing
very well.”
“Did he go into any detail about our past
business relationship?”
“No, Mr. Czerinski. Lou says his business
dealings with you were discreet. I respect that. I assure you that
any business between you and me will also be discreet.”
“It had better be,” I warned. “What did he
tell you? What do you know? Don’t lie to me.”
“Lou told me nothing. I know only rumors,”
said Guido, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. “There has been
talk of a Fountain of Youth chip. But who would believe such a
fantastic tale? If there ever was such a chip, the technology has
been lost.”
Yes, lost on purpose by the
government.
I was lucky to get one of the last before they were
yanked from the market. “You can be a king or a street sweeper,” I
said. “But everybody dances with the Grim Reaper.”
“I agree, but you do look very young and
healthy for your age. Do you take vitamins?”
“Don’t go there,” I warned. “I assume your
new chip has all the anti-theft protocols programmed into it. If
someone cuts off my arm, the chip will know I am dead and
self-destruct?”
“Of course,” said Guido.
“Guaranteed?”
“You want a guarantee, buy a toaster.”
I frowned at Guido. “My technicians will
examine your chip. My doctor will do the procedure. I don’t want to
be assassinated by a Mafia virus. You will be a guest of the casino
until I am satisfied.”
“I understand,” said Guido. “So, we have a
deal?”
“This new chip had better be for real,” I
said. “What kind of money are we talking about?”
“Only five million dollars. That is a rock
bottom price offered to a select few.”
“When I first built my casinos, I had to kill
a whole bunch of you Italians for trying to muscle in on my gaming
action,” I said. “If you are messing with me, I will throw you off
the roof.”
“I understand your apprehension. My
organization has nothing but the utmost respect for you, Mr.
Czerinski. You are a decorated war hero of the Legion and obviously
have a keen eye for business. All we are interested in is doing
business with you.”
“Why aren’t you selling this chip to the
military? Wouldn’t you make more money? Wouldn’t that make better
business sense?”
“Maybe,” said Guido. “Eventually the
government will have this technology. But before that happens, our
chip is worth a lot more money to private enterprise. Governments
can’t keep secrets. You know that. Once word of the chip gets out,
the bugs will develop counter measures, making the technology
worthless.”
“I still think the military would be
interested in this,” I said, giving the matter some thought. “I
might even sell it to them myself. Am I missing something?”
“The military is not going to buy this
technology until certain legal, ethical, and political issues are
resolved,” advised Guido. “Research and development on this chip
involved a few deaths. We don’t want to deal with those distracting
issues. We want sales to begin now.”
“What deaths?”
“We had to kidnap a few bugs for experimental
research and development,” explained Guido. “They all died.”
“Is that all?”
“Some humans died, too. The authorities might
call it murder. We think of it more as just the cost of doing
business. The Legion would call it collateral damage.”
“And it’s perfectly safe now? You’ve worked
all the kinks out?”
“Yes, Mr. Czerinski. It would be bad for
business to sell an unsafe product.”
“And bad for your health,” I added. “Still,
five million dollars is a lot of money. From a business point of
view, how does it pay for me to put out that kind of money for
something I don’t really need?”
“Poker games with aliens alone will pay for
the five million,” explained Guido.
“I doubt that. If I started winning big time,
no one would play me.”
“As you well know, Mr. Czerinski, the
frontier is a dangerous place,” said Guido patiently. “In a place
where every green spider out there has a war-surplus nuke hidden
under his bed, information is the key to survival. Being well
informed has an unlimited value.”
“I see your point. How does this chip
work?”
“All the bug species have antennae,”
explained Guido. “Bugs have evolved away from use of their
antennae, and now verbalize to communicate. But their subconscious
still broadcasts messages through their antennae. A receiver in
these sunglasses,” he said, holding up a seemingly ordinary pair of
sunglasses, “monitors bug frequencies and intercepts bug thought
waves, translating them for the wearer. As you can see, the glasses
are quite stylish and–”
I waved him off. “I don’t care about style.
How does it
work
?”
“A micro-computer translates the messages
into English and prints them out on a screen on the inside of your
sunglasses. Your eye movements are gauged to target specific
individuals within a fifty-foot range. If you look at a group of
bugs, the glasses will gather and translate all their thoughts in
the order received. Additionally, the glasses are shielded to
prevent observers from seeing anything but your eyes through the
lenses, and the print on the inside is visible only to the wearer
with the imbedded chip. And as an added feature, the lenses
automatically darken or lighten, depending on surrounding light, to
optimize your visual range and protect you from UV and other
harmful rays.”
I thought for a moment, trying to imagine
talking to a roomful of bugs and keeping up with reading a screen
inside the glasses while pretending to be involved in the
conversation – and with regular box translators broadcasting what
the bugs were saying. “Seems like reading thoughts would get
confusing in a hurry.”
“Our research testing showed that many
subjects found reading a printout too distracting and disorienting.
Also most wearers couldn’t keep up with more than three different
translation sources at once. You can elect to receive audio
translation only through the transceivers built into the earpieces
of the glasses. Either way, only you can see or hear the translated
thoughts, and only you can access the computer through your
imbedded chip.”
I thought it over for a second. What was
there to think about? “You have a deal.”
* * * * *
To test my new chip, I asked Amanda, a
longtime friend and business partner, to come to my office. I
figured that, being a spider, she would be perfect for a test of
the mind-reading technology. I had dated her once. It was one of
the most terrifying experiences of my life.
“You have never invited me to your office
before,” said Amanda. “At least, not without a chaperone.”
I
wonder if this means you are interested in more than that one-night
stand we had,
she thought to herself.
I could hear her thoughts! My whole body
tingled with excitement and a healthy dose of fear. Amanda was not
one to be trifled with in the bedroom. “Have a seat, Amanda. How is
our cash flow these days?”