Under the Eye of God by David Gerrold

wrapped zealously around himself. Its orange fury blazed for all to see. Gito had left his world for reasons he did not discuss. By doing so, he placed himself at the mercy of any Dragon who felt the need to revenge himself for insults suffered on Tharn. But also by doing so, he removed himself from the greater danger he left behind. The Dragons did not scare him. Not enough.
    â€œDragons?” he snorted, speaking to Robin, the Operations Manager of The Lady MacBeth , as they polished the pink brinewood paneling of the ship’s salon. 10
    â€œYou want to know about Dragons? I’ll tell you about Dragons. Dragons have no brains. I saw this myself. On Tharn. A Dragon-Lord stepped in a lump of shit—he looked down and when he saw it do you know what he did? He panicked. He thought he had started to melt!”
    Robin, an organic construct, 11 allowed herself a smile. She appreciated the humor, but her personal training also allowed her to recognize the animal origins of the emotions behind the speech. Gito told stories like this constantly, always using either the Phaestor Vampires or the Moktar Dragons as the foils for his rough-edged humor. “Careful, my friend. The wrong ears would not appreciate that anecdote.”
    â€œHmp.” Gito snorted. “The wrong ears shouldn’t travel aboard this ship.”
    â€œThe Captain had no choice in that decision—”
    â€œPfah! Front office politics. It excuses nothing. The whole ship reeks of Vampires and Dragons—pfah!” Gito spat. “Darkness take the lot of ‘em. I can’t get their stink out of my nose.”
    â€œMy nose doesn’t like it any more than yours, but—”
    â€œOught to shove the whole lot of ‘em out an airlock. Let ‘em walk. Do the whole Cluster a favor. We left the better cargo on Burihatin. More profitable. Industrial grade, three-month, pfingle eggs— pfingle eggs ! We could have made twenty times the share that this charter offers. Assuming Captain Campbell can get the noble Zillabar to pay. She will pay, won’t she?”
    â€œGito, please—?” Robin desperately wanted to find a way to end his stream of invective. “Let’s just finish preparing the salon. The sooner we clear customs, the sooner our guests will debark.”
    â€œâ€”and then we’ll have to decontaminate the entire ship. I know it. We’ll probably have to open her up to space just to boil out the pheromones.”
    At that moment, Ota, the First Officer of The Lady MacBeth , stepped up into the softly-lit lounge from the passage below. It frowned as it caught the last reckless echo of Gito’s anger. They didn’t dare risk any more trouble.
    â€œGito, Robin,” Ota interrupted quietly. “May I gently suggest that you save these thoughts for a later time. Thoughts spoken in candor might annoy our passengers—or their retinue. I don’t think you want them accidentally overhearing.”
    Chastened, Robin nodded and lowered her eyes. She understood too well. Even if she hadn’t voiced the anger, she still shared the crime by listening to it. If caught, the penalty for sedition would apply equally to both of them: death by prolonged torture. 12 Gito hung his head and growled something unintelligible, perhaps a half-hearted promise to watch himself in the future. He hadn’t meant to endanger Robin. He liked Robin.
    Tall and burly, Ota looked deceptively gentle. Its genetic stew contained genes modelled on those of the lesser panda. It had the features and coloring of a giant raccoon-like bear with some of the sharper features of a fox. Most humans tended to regard Ota as a female, viewing the huge soft-looking bioform as a kind of living embodiment of the fabled Earth-Mother. Ota neither accepted nor rejected such perceptions, regarding them as occurrences beyond the scope of its own nature.
    Ota moved through the salon with surprising grace; its sharp