Robert Asprin – Tambu

“We have our sources,” Tambu countered, smiling to himself. “It was my belief that you were a diehard loner. I fully expected that if our courses crossed, that you’d be taken dead or not at all. As such, I’m quite curious about your sudden change of heart.”

“Well, the business has never been all that stable, and it’s been getting rougher lately. You should know that You’re one of the reasons things have been going bad.”

“We have had some modest success.”

“It was shaky enough when things were one-on-one and every ship for itself. But now that we’re up against ships working together in teams or packs-well, let’s say the odds are getting pretty high against us.”

“Have you thought of quitting?” Tambu suggested.

“We talked it over, the crew and me, but none of us were wild about finding work planetside, and cargo hauling seems awfully dull after the life we’ve been living.”

“Besides, it doesn’t pay as well,” Tambu observed dryly.

“Exactly. Well, anyway, we decided to go with the old saying…you know, ‘if you can’t lick ’em, join ’em. ‘So here we are. What do you say?”

“It still sounds like a rather abrupt change of face to me. I’m surprised your crew isn’t more averse to changing sides this way.”

Blackjack shrugged. “Cops or robbers, the game’s the same on both sides of the fence. The big difference is that playing it your way, we can mix with polite company.”

“Well, we haven’t exactly been swamped with invitations to society balls,” Tambu countered. “And I’d like to think there are a few differences between the cops and the robbers. The main one that comes to mind is discipline. If you join the fleet, you play by my rules. You’ll be allowed to run your ship your way, but the final decisions are mine. No solo jaunts or independent action.”