A Respectable Profit

By Bruce Davis

Zack Mbele, a reformed smuggler and his crew find respectability a bit boring. That is until the brother of an old acquaintance needs their help tracking down a long buried secret. When they run afoul of the richest man in the solar system who happens to want Zack dead, respectability is anything but boring.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bruce Davis
• Release date: Jun 24, 2010

Bruce Davis

I am a general and trauma surgeon in the Phoenix metro area. When not cutting and sewing for a living, I write. My stories focus on the things that make us human, even in the face of extreme environments or stress.My first novel, That Which Is Human, a military science fiction tale, is available here and from AKW Books (AKWBooks.com). My second novel, Queen Mab Courtesy, is available in print from CWG press and is sold on Amazon as a trade paperback or for the Kindle.

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11

A RESPECTABLE PROFIT

by

Bruce C Davis

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 by Bruce C Davis

Other works available at Smashwords.com:

Titania's Purse

Queen Mab Courtesy

or check out the website at www.thatwhichishuman.com

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. Please do not resell it or give it away to others. The author does appreciate word of mouth referrals so please direct your friends to this site so they can buy their own copies. Information may want to be free, but entertainment needs to be paid.

A RESPECTABLE PROFIT

by

Bruce C Davis

You have to go down, Zack Sylvia chided. It's part of the package.

I heaved myself out of the command chair and picked up the short jacket slung over the headrest. You sound like Cleo, Sylvia, I grumbled. Never giving a man a minute's peace. Not even in his own cockpit.

But Cleo told me to make sure you saw our guests off in person.

You always do what she tells you? I asked. I thought I was the captain of this ship.

You know how she gets when she's cross, Sylvia said carefully. The passengers are expecting you.

As the Profit's Artificial Intelligence, I'd have thought Sylvia immune to Cleo's displeasure. Don't get me wrong. I knew Cleo was the reason we were doing so well lately. I'd lived on the edge of bankruptcy for years until she'd convinced me to take a windfall score and upgrade of the Profit's passenger cabins and salon. Now, she marketed us to the rich and famous as a high class charter boat.

I shrugged into the 'uniform' jacket. The uniforms were Cleo's idea. Made us look more professional, she said. She'd had a hell of a time getting Deuce into one. He spent most of his time with the engine and his workshop when passengers were aboard.

I'm going, I said, putting on my cheerfully confident professional face. I swung through the cockpit hatch and crossed the catwalk above the forward hold. I could hear