Read "Worlds of the Imperium" by Keith Laumer online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
"Get back, Bayard," Bale snarled. "Rotten luck, that; I needed the swine alive for hanging. " I stood up slowly. He stared at me, gnawing his lip. "It was you I wanted dead; and this fool traded lives with you."
He seemed to be talking to himself. I recognized the voice now, a little late. Bale was the Big Boss. It was the fact that he spoke in French here that had fooled me.