Robert Asprin – Tambu

“But our guns aren’t good enough to fight off an armed ship!”

“I know, but until we close this deal, they’re all we’ve got. If my guess, is right, Blackjack’s crew won’t be too eager to get into a fight if he isn’t there calling the signals.”

“You’ll keep him here? Then why do I have to-“

“He might be wired for sound,” Tambu broke in. “If anyone on his ship picked up our conversation, they might be getting very curious about us.”

“They might be going after Puck right now!” Egor exclaimed.

“Right! So hurry. There’s no time to argue.”

“Okay, but watch that table. I don’t trust them.”

“Me neither, my friend,” Tambu admitted, but the big man was already on his way.

With a sigh, Tambu joined Whitey and Hendricks, pulling his chair around to where he could watch Blackjack’s table without moving his head.

“Sorry to be so long,” he apologized. “How are we doing here?”

“Hendricks has what we want.” Whitey leaned back from the table. “Compatible with our ship’s systems. If they were any bigger, we wouldn’t have the power to fire them.”

“That big?” Tambu said. “Where’d they come from?”

Whitey answered, “As near as I can figure, they were salvaged from some of the old Planet Tamer ships. Nobody else used guns that big.”

“Professional ethics require that I never reveal my sources-or customers,” Hendricks commented.

“How would these weapons stack up against their armaments?” Tambu asked, indicating the trio glowering at. them.

“Blackjack?” Hendricks asked, peering over his glasses. “You’ll have half again the range of anything on his ship.”