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You don t panic me, Lieutenant Benden. Kimmer s eyes glittered with a
vengeance that shocked Ross. This ship s in no danger.
Your cruiser ll rescue you.
Benden stared at the man in utter amazement. The cruiser is behind Rukbat,
in com shadow. We can t arrange a different rendezvous. Unless we can
lighten this ship, we can t even make a course change for the one chance we
have of staying alive!
Benden hauled Kimmer by the arm to the console and showed him the diagram on
the screen, and the little blip that was the Erica, serenely heading for her
original, now nonviable, destination. We certainly don t have enough fuel to
make the arranged rendezvous. He tapped out the sequence to show the
original flight plan. Then, with his finger, Benden indicated the inexorable
path the Erica was taking. Tell us what and where the excess weight is
hidden, Kimmer!
Kimmer contented himself with a wry chuckle, and Benden wanted to smash the
smile off the man s face. If that s the way you want to play it, Kimmer.
Sergeant, get the stuff and bring it with you. Benden hustled the naked,
barefooted colonist down the companionway to the airlock and, palming the
control for the inner hatch, shoved him inside, motioned for Greene to throw
in the gold, and closed the hatch again.
I mean it, Kimmer, either tell me what else is on board and where, or you go
out the airlock.
Kimmer turned, a contemptuous expression on his face, and he folded his arms
across his chest, a gaunt old man with only defiance to clothe him.
You ve more than enough fuel, Benden. Chio checked the gauge. The Erica s
tanks were full. Since you had to have used at least a third of a tank to get
here, I m of the opinion that Shensu knew --his eyes traveled to Benden s
left, where Shensu was standing by the window-- as I always suspected, where
Kenjo had stored his pilferings. Kimmer drew himself up. No, Lieutenant, I
will call your bluff.
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It s no bluff, Kimmer, and if you had any training as a space jockey,
you d ve felt how sluggish the gig was. She s heavy, too heavy. We burned
too much in the lift-off. The gold on you and the women isn t enough to cause
that. Damn it, Kimmer, it s your life, too.
I ll have taken a Benden down with me, the man snarled, his face contorted
with hatred and sheer malevolence.
But Chio, and your daughters, your grandchildren-- Benden began.
They were none of them worth the effort I put into them, Kimmer replied
arrogantly. I have to share my wealth with them, but
I m certainly not sharing it with you.
Sharing? Benden stared at him, not quite comprehending the man s words.
You think I m blackmailing you? For a share of your wealth? The disgust in
his voice momentarily rattled the old man, but Benden hardly noticed. There
are many people in my world, Kimmer, who are not motivated by greed. He
gestured with contemptuous anger at the sheets and lozenges at Kimmer s feet.
None of that is worth the risk you want us to take. What have you hidden on
the Erica--and where?
Just then, Ni Morgana beckoned urgently to Benden. Gratefully, he moved away
from the window. His hand novered briefly over the evac button. Kimmer could
stay where he was, just a thin sheet away from space, and contemplate his
situation.
When I was looking for tranks, Saraidh said quietly, for Benden s ears only,
I came across a vial of scopalamine in the medical chest. It may be an
anesthetic, but the right dosage provides the truth, so Chio spilled it out.
It s platinum and germanium, sheets of it, stuffed wherever they could when
they came aboard on legitimate errands, and when they drugged whoever was on
the dogwatch.
That s why we all had headaches.
Benden was astounded. Platinum? Germanium? he exclaimed loudly enough for
the others to hear.
Kimmer was a mining engineer. He found ores, and we ve all had to work in
them, Shensu said, pushing over to them. I
wondered why the workroom smelled of hot metal. He must have had the girls
melt the ingots down at night, extruding sheets. No wonder they ve looked so
worn out. I never thought to check on the metals, because they d be too heavy
to bring.
Where is it? Benden demanded, looking up and down the aisle, momentarily
bewildered when he thought of all the places sheets of thin metal could be
unobtrusively attached within the Erica. We ve got to search the ship!
Everywhere! Sergeant, take your marines to the stern. Shensu, you and your
brothers start on the lockers.
He knew one helluva lot about the interior of gigs, Nev remarked almost
admiringly when the marines found that the missile tubes had been stuffed with
metal plaques. These were immediately flushed into space.
And I watched her, Lieutenant, Vartry said, aggrieved, when they found that
the locker where the medicines had been stowed was also lined with thin slabs
of silvery metal. I stood here and watched her, heard her tell me she wanted
to be sure the medicines were safe, as she slapped sheets top, bottom, and
side.
The lockers in which the 23.5-kilo personal allowances had been stowed also
proved to be lined with platinum.
You know, Ni Morgana remarked, bending one of the thin sheets she had found
under Benden s bunk, individually these don t weight much, but they damned
near coated the gig with em. Ingenious.
There were sheets everywhere, and still more were found and piled at the
airlock hatch.
Nev, remembering how he d entertained Hope and Charity by showing them the
cabin, found metal glued to the bottom of the blast couches, lining the inside
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of the control panel, and thin rolls of metal tacked to the baseboards,
looking for all the worlds like innocuous decorations. Inspection of
viewports revealed platinum-decorated seals, which sent Nev and Scag searching
all the ports.
When the pile at the inner airlock door reached the window slow, abruptly
Benden realized the airlock was empty.
Kimmer? Where s Kimmer? he cried. Who let him out? Where is he?
But Kimmer was nowhere in the ship. A gesture from Benden had the marines on
his heels as they propelled themselves to the galley, where the brothers were
still searching.
Which of you depressed the evac button? Benden demanded, seething with
impotent anger.
Depressed-- Shensu s look of astonishment was, Benden felt, genuine. There
was no regret, however, on his face or his brothers .
I m not sure I blame you, Shensu, but it constitutes murder. You had
opportunities enough while we were searching the ship.
We were searching the ship, too, Shensu said with dignity. We were as busy
as you, trying to save our lives.
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