some tea... No, I'm sorry, there isn't any left. No extra chairs, either. If I'd known you were coming, Stan ..."
"I know, you would have had lunch catered," Stan said.
"Lunch? I can fry you a kelp patty..."
"No, sorry, just kidding, Captain. We're not staying. We're getting out of here, and so are you."
Hoban looked surprised. "But where are we going ?"
"There's got to be a cafe near here," Stan said.
"Someplace we can talk."
Hoban looked around again, grinned sheepishly. "I guess this place isn't too conducive to conversation."
"Especially not a business talk," Stan said. "Have you got a coat? Let's go!"
Chapter 14
Danziger's was a Ukrainian cafe on the next block. It had big glass windows, always misty with steam. There were vats of water perpetually at the boil for the pirogis in ersatz flour gravy that were the specialty of the place. Stan, Julie, and Hoban took a small booth in the rear. They drank big mugs of black coffee and talked in low voices.
Stan was concerned about Hoban's condition. It had been a while since he had last seen the captain, back when Hoban had been captain of the Dolomite and Stan had bought the ship. Stan had liked the taciturn, serious minded captain and had kept him in charge.
Hoban was one of the old breed, a straight shooting captain, always serious and controlled, whose interests were exclusively in intergalactic navigation and exploration, and who could be counted on to follow orders. Stan had bought the Dolomite during his flush period, when the royalties were rolling in from his various patents, before his troubles with Bio Pharm and the government. In those golden days, it had looked like the sky was the limit. After the asteroid incident, when Hoban had lost his license, Stan had pulled some strings and managed to get him a temporary captain's ticket. They had all been quite close then, Stan and Hoban and Gill, the android, who was second in command. But then Stan's problems with Bio Therm had begun, and the lawsuits had started flocking in like flies to a flayed cow.
A hostile holding company had taken over the Dolomite, and their first act had been to dismiss Hoban, who was known for his loyalty to Stan. They accused the captain of various peccadilloes. That was really a laugh, with a man of Hoban's known probity, but mud sticks when you fling enough of it hard enough, and the licensing board had lifted Hoban's temporary ticket pending an investigation.
The captain had taken it hard. He was reduced in the course of one terrible day from a man who commanded his own little empire to a penniless derelict who couldn't find any work better than washing dishes.
Now they sat together in a Ukrainian cafe, with the late afternoon sun streaming in through the windows, and Stan said, "I'm going back into space, Captain, and I want you with me."
"It's good of you to say so," Hoban said. "But no employer would have me without a license."
"I still want you," Stan said. "As for your license, we'll claim it's still in force."
"But it won't be," Hoban said.
"You can't be sure of that," Stan said. "Money talks. I think the courts will find for you, if it comes to an actual trial. And I'll get your case reopened after this trip."
"Can you really do that?" Hoban asked. A ray of hope lightened his heavy features for a moment, then his expression darkened again. "But I have no ship, Dr. Myakovsky. Or do you want me to pilot something other than the Dolomite?''
"No, we're going on the good old Dolomite," Stan said.
"But, Doctor, you no longer own it! And even if you did, I am no longer allowed to pilot it."
"Possession is nine tenths of the law," Stan said. "Once we're aboard and under way, they'll have to argue with us in court. Their lawyers against ours."
"I don't know," Hoban said, slumping down and shaking his head.
"Money talks," Stan pointed out again. "We'll win your case. After this trip, we'll all have it good."
"Yes, sir. Back into space again ... Excuse me for asking, sir, but do you have any money for this ven ture?"
"Enough for what we need. And a way to get a lot more."
"Where do you want to go?" Hoban asked. "Let's get into that later," Stan said. "You don't mind if it's dangerous, do you?"
Hoban smiled sadly and shrugged. "Anything's better than rotting here, with nothing to hope for."
"My sentiments exactly," Stan said. "This