After Dirk Beretta, ex- poster boy for the Space Marines, saves the Winterbotham Nachos heiress from a fate worse than death in the Space Weasel kibble factories, a romantic cruise around the galaxy with her looks like a well-earned rest.

But Royalist revolutionaries on the Planet Of The Squid have other ideas. When they hatch a plan to replace the democratic government with a moronic monarch, Dirk faces a difficult choice: can he kill his new drinking buddy to save democracy?

A 9,000 word science fiction short story.