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The Tribes of Bela [MultiFormat]
eBook by Albert E. Cowdrey
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eBook Category: Fantasy/Science Fiction Nebula Award(R) Finalist
eBook Description:  Much of Mr. Cowdrey's short fiction is set in his hometown of New Orleans, but in this tale he takes us farther afield, off to a planet called Bela that has seen its share of troubles lately. This story, along with his soon-to-be-published novel, should fix the name of Albert Cowdrey firmly in the minds of all enthusiasts of good science fiction adventure tales. This Nebula Award Preliminary Ballot Nominee was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction August 2004, available at Fictionwise.
eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 2004
Fictionwise Release Date: January 2006
428 Reader Ratings:
Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: eReader (PDB) [91 KB]
, ePub (EPUB) [78 KB]
, Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [74 KB]
, Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [501 KB]
, Palm Doc (PDB) [83 KB]
, Microsoft Reader (LIT) [119 KB]
, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [146 KB]
, hiebook (KML) [229 KB]
, Sony Reader (LRF) [94 KB]
, iSilo (PDB) [68 KB]
, Mobipocket (PRC) [85 KB]
, Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [113 KB]
, OEBFF Format (IMP) [110 KB]
Words: 23952
Reading time: 68-95 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Portable Document Format (PDF) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
 
Luscious crime: murder on Planet Bela. Col Robert Kohn investigates a swift assassin who bears no crystal modus operandi. The tale is gripping, brilliant, impossible to put down. Albert E. Cowdrey is a literary delight. Orgasmic! 'The Tribes of Bela' swirls. What a beaut. A trip from start to finish. -Eugen Bacon, Fictionwise Recommender
DOCUMENTS Assembled by the Honorable Committee Investigating the Tragedy on Planet Bela, and JUDGMENT Thereupon.
Item (1.) Extracts from the Notebook of Kohn, Robert Rogers, Colonel, Security Forces.
I feel like I'm diving, not landing.
Bucking headwinds, the freighter's shuttle fights wind and rain until we drop out of the overcast over a blue-black sea. We're heading for a small rocky headland that juts out of a dim coastline.
The green duroplast shuttleport looks like a large fake emerald set in a broken ring of foam. The retros sear the pad, and clouds of steam boil up. As the sole passenger, I'm allowed to exit the ship before its rusty handling bots begin loading. An army of shiny ingots--gold, titanium, metals I don't have a name for--stands to attention, scoured by rain, awaiting the outward journey.
Two moronic guards (male & female) named Vizbee and Smelt retrieve my luggage under the baleful eye of Julia Mack, Captain, Security. My local counterpart salutes and I say falsely that I'm glad to be here. Smelt comments, "You may be glad now, but you won't be for long."
Vizbee adds, "Oughta give this goddamn swamp back to the Arkies."
"QUIET!" trumpets Captain Mack, and without further comment, the guards stow my things in a little flyer waiting in a hangar with airfoils retracted. Climbing in, I feel the four or five extra kilos I weigh here--also taste a fizzy, champagne-like something in the air. Maybe the extra oxygen will help me carry the extra weight. Or maybe just make me drunk.
Welcome to Planet Bela, old man.
We're barreling toward Main Base over fog-shrouded cliffs, through a squall blowing in from the ocean. Mack thinks it's all beautiful.
"Born here," she proclaims, her voice overfilling the cabin. "Only human that ever was. Against company policy, of course; Mama was on the pill, but something went wrong. Folks died in a mining accident and the colony raised me. Now, with these murders, they're talking about closing down the mines. People say we're going home--but for me, this is home."
"If I can help you catch the killer," I tell her, "the mines will stay open."
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