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"Sit back!" Bragdon ordered. "I'll shoot the first one who unstraps himself."
IV
When he cycled through the airlock, out of the flyer's interior gee-field, Staurn yanked at Heim so
violently that he staggered. He tightened his leg muscles and drew himself erect. However well balanced,
the load of gear on him was monstrous.
Jocelyn had gone ahead, to cover the prisoners as they emerged. She looked grotesquely different in her
airsuit, and the dark faceplate was a mask over her features. He moved toward her.
"Stop!"In spite of the helmet pickups being adjusted to compensate for changed sound-transmission
parameters, her voice was eerily different. He halted under the menace of her gun. Itwas a . 45
automatic, throwing soft-nosed slugs at low velocity to rip open a man's protection.
He drew a long breath, and another. His own air was a calculated percentage composition at three
atmospheres, both to balance outside pressure and to furnish extra oxygen for the straining cells. It made
his words roar in the helmet: "Joss, what is this farce?"
"You'll never know how sorry I am," she said unevenly. "If you'd listened to me, back on the ship-"
"Your whole idea, then, was to wreck my plan," he flung at her.
"Yes. It had to be done.Can't you see, it had to! There's no chance of negotiating with Alerion when ...
when you're waging war. Their delegates told Earth so officially, before they left."
"And you believed them? Don't you know any more history than that?"
She didn't seem to hear. Words cataracted from her; through all the distortion, he could read how she
appealed to him.
"Peace Control Intelligence guessed you'd come here for your weapons. They couldn't send an armed
ship. The Staurni wouldn't have allowed it. In fact, France could block any official action. But
unofficially-We threw this expedition together and took off after you. I learned about it because PCI
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found out I was an, an, an old friend of yours and interrogated me. I asked to come along. I thought,I
hoped I could persuade you."
"By any means convenient," he bit off. "There's a name for that."
"I failed," she said desolately. "Vie decided this trip was his chance to act. We don't mean to hurt you.
We'll take you back to Earth.Nothing more. You won't even be charged with anything."
"I could charge kidnapping," he said.
"If you want to," she mumbled.
Hopelessness gutted him. "What's the use? You'd get yourself a judge who'd put you on probation."
Vadászappeared, then Koumanoudes, then Uthg-a-K'thaq. The Greek cursed in a steady stream.
Without a captain, without a chief engineer,Foxwill have to go home, beaten before one blow is
struck, Heim thought.
He looked around. They had landed on the west bank of the Morh. It ran wide and luminous through a
sandy, boulder-strewn dale walled by low bluffs. The mountains of Kimreth reared opposite the sun, still
many kilometers distant, not quite real in the blue-gray haze of intervening air, but a titan's rampart,
dominated by the volcanic cone he had seen from afar. Underfoot the ground was covered by that
springy mosslike red-yellow growth which was this world's equivalent of grass. Overhead the sky arched
plum-dark, clouds scudding on a wind that boomed in his audio receptors. A flock of airborne devilfish
shapes drifted into sight and out again.
How far have we come? What's going to happen?
Vadász moved to Heim's side, touched helmets, and muttered, "Quickly, can we rush her? I do not think
her aim will be good here."
"Nor can we move fast," Heim said.Though ... would you really shoot me, Joss?
His heart thuttered and sweat smelt sharp in his nostrils. But before he could nerve himself to try,
Bragdon was out, and there was no question whether that laser pistol would be used.
"G'yaaru!"Uthg-a-K'thaq shouted. "You hawe lewt the airlockowen !"
"I know," Bragdon said. "And I've set the pilot a certain way. Better lie down." He eased himself to a
sitting position.
The flyer whined and leaped forward. The glare off its metal blinded Heim. He sawwhat seemed a
comet arc off the ground , to a hundred meters, loop about, and plunge. Instinct sent him flat on his belly.
Some distance away, the flyer crashed. The explosive mixture of hydrogen and oxygen went off. Blue
flame spurted upward. Thunder coughed, again and again, and Heim heard shards scream above him.
Then there was only a thick pillar of smoke and dust, while echoes tolled away and were lost in the wind.
He strained back to his feet. His head still rang. The other males did likewise. Jocelyn remained seated.
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"Great ... jumping ... Judas," Koumanoudes gasped. "What have you done?"
"Don't be alarmed," said Bragdon. "We have other transportation coming." He paused. "I may as well
explain. The object is to cripple your damned piracy by taking you back to Earth. I had various schemes
in mind, but this chance suggested a simple method.
"One other flyer is out, with a couple of young men who know what's afoot and know approximately
where I intended to do this. They can spot the wreckage from afar. We'll all go aboard and return to the
Quest, Only we'll be on the floor, out of sight, and I'm sorry, but you'll be tied. Once back inside the
ship, you'll be taken to a special cell we've got fixed. Jocelyn and I will stay concealed too. When you
don't report in, your crew will get worried and go look for you. Naturally, Captain Gutierrez will lend
every assistance . The wreck will be found-unfortunate crash, everybody killed. No one's likely to check
so close that he'll see there are no human remains. But if anybody does, he'll conclude that we hiked off
in a forlorn attempt to get help, and soon died. So, with much sorrow, two spoiled expeditions wend
their separate ways home."
"Can you rely on your crew?" Vadász asked, snake cold.
"They won't know the truth untilQuest is again in space," Bragdon said. "Captain Gutierrez and First
Officer Hermann do already. I don't expect the men will mutiny."
"You filthy bastard-" Koumanoudes advanced a stiff-legged step.
"Halt," Bragdon warned. "I'm entirely prepared to shoot if I must. On the other hand, if you behave
yourselves you'll be released unharmed on Earth."
Heim hunched his shoulders. "How will you prevent us from starting right out again?" he inquired.
"Have you forgotten? Your ship's now equipped for nuclear weapons. The moment she enters the Solar
System, the Peace Control Authority is law-bound to seize her. And without their principal officers,
where else can your men go?"
"Who are you working for, Bragdon?" Heim fleered."Alerion?"
"Mankind."The answer was proud. "In case you'reinterested, I'm not a xenologist, only a PCA officer
on leave, and they'll cashier me for this. It's worth it, though. World Militants for Peace will see I get
another job."
"They engineered this, huh?" Koumanoudes snorted."Yeh. They've got members in government too."
Heim spoke to Jocelyn. "You never actually quit that gang, did you?"
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