Plague Ship Read online

  Chapter XVII

  IN CUSTODY

  "To those of you who do not travel the star trails our case may seempuzzling--" the words were coming easily. Dane gathered confidence as hespoke, intent on making those others out there know what it meant to beoutlawed.

  "We are Patrol Posted, outlawed as a plague ship," he confessed frankly."But this is our true story--"

  Swiftly, with a flow of language he had not known he could command, Daneswung into the story of Sargol, of the pest they had carried away fromthat world. And at the proper moment he thrust a gloved hand into thecage and brought out the wriggling thing which struck vainly with itspoisoned talons, holding it above the dark table so that those unseenwatchers could witness the dramatic change of color which made it such amenace. Dane continued the story of the Queen's ill-fated voyage--oftheir forced descent upon the E-Stat.

  "Ask the truth of Inter-Solar," he demanded of the audience beyond thosewalls. "We were no pirates. They will discover in their records thevouchers we left." Then Dane described the weird hunt when, led by theHoobat, they had finally found and isolated the menace, and their landingin the heart of the Big Burn. He followed that with his own quest formedical aid, the kidnapping of Hovan. At that point he turned to theMedic.

  "This is Medic Hovan. He has consented to appear in our behalf and totestify to the truth--that the Solar Queen has not been stricken by someunknown plague, but infested with a living organism we now have undercontrol--" For a suspenseful second or two he wondered if Hovan was goingto make it. The man looked shaken and sick, as if the drastic awakingthey had subjected him to had left him too dazed to pull himselftogether.

  But out of some hidden reservoir of strength the Medic summoned theenergy he needed. And his testimony was all they had hoped it would be.Though now and then he strayed into technical terms. But, Dane thought,their use only enhanced the authority of his description of what he haddiscovered on board the spacer and what he had done to counteract thepower of the poison. When he had done Dane added a few last words.

  "We have broken the law," he admitted forthrightly, "but we were fightingin self-defense. All we ask now is the privilege of an impartialinvestigation, a chance to defend ourselves--such as any of you take forgranted on Terra--before the courts of this planet--" But he was not tofinish without interruption.

  From the play-back over their heads another voice blared, breaking acrosshis last words:

  "Surrender! This is the Patrol. Surrender or take the consequences!" Andthat faint sighing which signaled their open contact with the outer worldwas cut off. The Com-tech turned away from the control board, a sneeringhalf smile on his face.

  "They've reached the circuit and cut you off. You're done!"

  Dane stared into the cage where the now almost invisible thing sat humpedtogether. He had done his best--they had all done their best. He feltnothing but a vast fatigue, an overwhelming weariness, not so much ofbody, but of nerve and spirit too.

  Rip broke the silence with a question aimed at the tech. "Can you signalbelow?"

  "Going to give up?" The fellow brightened. "Yes, there's an inter-com Ican cut in."

  Rip stood up. He unbuckled the belt about his waist and laid it on thetable--disarming himself. Without words Ali and Dane followed hisexample. They had played their hand--to prolong the struggle would meannothing. The acting Captain of the Queen gave a last order:

  "Tell them we are coming down unarmed--to surrender." He paused in frontof Hovan. "You'd better stay here. If there's any trouble--no reason foryou to be caught in the middle."

  Hovan nodded as the three left the room. Dane, remembering the trick hehad pulled with the riser, made a comment:

  "We may be marooned here--"

  Ali shrugged. "Then we can just wait and let them collect us." He yawned,his dark eyes set in smudges. "I don't care if they'll just let us sleepthe clock around afterwards. D'you really think," he addressed Rip, "thatwe've done ourselves any good?"

  Rip neither denied nor confirmed. "We took our only chance. Now it's upto them--" He pointed to the wall and the teeming world which lay beyondit.

  Ali grinned wryly. "I note you left the what-you-call-it with Hovan."

  "He wanted one to experiment with," Dane replied. "I thought he'd earnedit."

  "And now here comes what we've earned--" Rip cut in as the hum of theriser came to their ears.

  "Should we take to cover?" Ali's mobile eyebrows underlined his demand."The forces of law and order may erupt with blasters blazing."

  But Rip did not move. He faced the riser door squarely and, drawn bysomething in that stance of his, the other two stepped in on either sideso that they fronted the dubious future as a united group. Whatever camenow, the Queen's men would meet it together.

  In a way Ali was right. The four men who emerged all had their blastersor riot stun-rifles at ready, and the sights of those weapons weretrained at the middles of the Free Traders. As Dane's empty hands, palmout, went up on a line with his shoulders, he estimated the opposition.Two were in the silver and black of the Patrol, two wore the forest greenof the Terrapolice. But they all looked like men with whom it was betternot to play games.

  And it was clear they were prepared to take no chances with the outlaws.In spite of the passiveness of the Queen's men, their hands were lockedbehind them with force bars about their wrists. When a quick searchrevealed that the three were unarmed, they were herded onto the riser bytwo of their captors, while the other pair remained behind, presumably touncover any damage they had done to the Tower installations.

  The police did not speak except for a few terse words among themselvesand a barked order to march, delivered to the prisoners. Very shortlythey were in the entrance hall facing the wreckage of the crawler anddoors through which a ragged gap had been burned. Ali viewed the scenewith his usual detachment.

  "Nice job," he commended Dane's enterprise. "They'll have a moving--"

  "Get going!" A heavy hand between his shoulder blades urged him on.

  The Engineer-apprentice whirled, his eyes blazing. "Keep your hands toyourself! We aren't mine fodder yet. I think that the little matter of atrial comes first--"

  "You're Posted," the Patrolman was openly contemptuous.

  Dane was chilled. For the first time that aspect of their predicamentreally registered. Posted outlaws might, within reason, be shot on sightwithout further recourse to the law. If that label stuck on the crew ofthe Queen, they had practically no chance at all. And when he saw thatAli was no longer inclined to retort, he knew that fact had dawned uponKamil also. It would all depend upon how big an impression theirbroadcast had made. If public opinion veered to their side--then theycould defend themselves legally. Otherwise the moon mines might be thebest sentence they dare hope for.

  They were pushed out into the brilliant sunlight. There stood the Queen,her meteor scarred side reflecting the light of her native sun. Andringed around her at a safe distance was what seemed to be a smallmechanized army corps. The authorities were making very sure that no morerebels would burst from her interior.

  Dane thought that they would be loaded into a mobile or 'copter and takenaway. But instead they were marched down, through the ranks of portableflamers, scramblers, and other equipment, to an open space where anyoneon duty at the visa-screen within the control cabin of the spacer couldsee them. An officer of the Patrol, the sun making an eye-blinding flashof his lightning sword breast badge, stood behind a loud speaker. Whenhe perceived that the three prisoners were present, he picked up a handmike and spoke into it--his voice so being relayed over the field asclearly as it must be reaching Weeks inside the sealed freighter.

  "You have five minutes to open hatch. Your men have been taken. Fiveminutes to open hatch and surrender."

  Ali chuckled. "And how does he think he's going to enforce that?" heinquired of the air and incidentally of the guards now forming a squareabout the three. "He'll need more than a flamer to unlatch the old girlif she doesn't care for his offer.
"

  Privately Dane agreed with that. He hoped that Weeks would decide to holdout--at least until they had a better idea of what the future would be.No tool or weapon he saw in the assembly about them was forceful enoughto penetrate the shell of the Queen. And there were sufficient supplieson board to keep Weeks and his charges going for at least a week. SinceTau had shown signs of coming out of his coma, it might even be that thecrew of the ship would arouse to their own defense in that time. It alldepended upon Weeks' present decision.

  No hatch yawned in the ship's sleek sides. She might have been an inertderelict for all response to that demand. Dane's confidence began torise. Weeks had picked up the challenge, he would continue to bafflepolice and Patrol.

  Just how long that stalemate would have lasted they were not to know foranother player came on the board. Through the lines of besiegers Hovan,escorted by the Patrolmen, made his way up to the officer at the mikestation. There was something in his air which suggested that he was aboutto give battle. And the conversation at the mike was relayed across thefield, a fact of which they were not at once aware.

  "There are sick men in there--" Hovan's voice boomed out. "I demand theright to return to duty--"

  "If and when they surrender they shall all be accorded necessary aid,"that was the officer. But he made no impression on the Medic from thefrontier. Dane, by chance, had chosen better support than he had guessed.

  "Pro Bono Publico--" Hovan invoked the battle cry of his own Service."For the Public Good--"

  "A plague ship--" the officer was beginning. Hovan waved that asideimpatiently.

  "Nonsense!" His voice scaled up across the field. "There is no plagueaboard. I am willing to certify that before the Council. And if yourefuse these men medical attention--which they need--I shall cite thecase all the way to my Board!"

  Dane drew a deep breath. That _was_ taking off on their orbit! Not beingone of the Queen's crew, in fact having good reason to be angry over histreatment at their hands, Hovan's present attitude would or should carryweight.

  The Patrol officer who was not yet ready to concede all points had ananswer: "If you are able to get on board--go."

  Hovan snatched the mike from the astonished officer. "Weeks!" His voicewas imperative. "I'm coming aboard--alone!"

  All eyes were on the ship and for a short period it would seem that Weeksdid not trust the Medic. Then, high in her needle nose, one of the escapeports, not intended for use except in dire emergency opened and allowed aplastic link ladder to fall link by link.

  Out of the corner of his eye Dane caught a flash of movement to his left.Manacled as he was he threw himself on the policeman who was aiming astun rifle into the port. His shoulder struck the fellow waist high andhis weight carried them both with a bruising crash to the concretepavement as Rip shouted and hands clutched roughly at the now helplessCargo-apprentice.

  He was pulled to his feet, tasting the flat sweetness of blood where aflailing blow from the surprised and frightened policeman had cut his lipagainst his teeth. He spat red and glowered at the ring of angry men.

  "Why don't you kick him?" Ali inquired, a vast and blistering contemptsawtoothing his voice. "He's got his hands cuffed so he's fair game--"

  "What's going on here?" An officer broke through the ring. The policeman,on his feet once more, snatched up the rifle Dane's attack had knockedout of his hold.

  "Your boy here," Ali was ready with an answer, "tried to find a targetinside the hatch. Is this the usual way you conduct a truce, sir?"

  He was answered by a glare and the rifleman was abruptly ordered to therear. Dane, his head clearing, looked at the Queen. Hovan was climbingthe ladder--he was within arm's length of that half open hatch. The veryfact that the Medic had managed to make his point stick was, in a faintway, encouraging. But the three were not allowed to enjoy that smallvictory for long. They were marched from the field, loaded into a mobileand taken to the city several miles away. It was the Patrol who held themin custody--not the Terrapolice. Dane was not sure whether that was to bereckoned favorable or not. As a Free Trader he had a grudging respect forthe organization he had seen in action on Limbo.

  Sometime later they found themselves, freed of the force bars, alone in aroom which, bare walled as it was, did have a bench on which all threesank thankfully. Dane caught the warning gesture from Ali--they wereunder unseen observation and they must have a listening audiencetoo--located somewhere in the maze of offices.

  "They can't make up their minds," the Engineer-apprentice settled hisshoulders against the wall. "Either we're desperate criminals, or we'reheroes. They're going to let time decide."

  "If we're heroes," Dane asked a little querulously, "what are we doinglocked up here? I'd like a few earth-side comforts--beginning with a fullmeal--"

  "No thumb printing, no psycho testing," Rip mused. "Yes, they haven't putus through the system yet."

  "And we decidedly aren't the forgotten men. Wipe your face, child," Alisaid to Dane, "you're still dribbling."

  The Cargo-apprentice smeared his hand across his chin and brought it awayred and sticky. Luckily his teeth remained intact.

  "We need Hovan to read them more law," observed Kamil. "You should havemedical attention."

  Dane dabbed at his mouth. He didn't need all that solicitude, but heguessed that Ali was talking for the benefit of those who now kept themunder surveillance.

  "Speaking of Hovan--I wonder what became of that pest he was supposed tohave under control. He didn't bring the cage with him when he came out ofthe Tower, did he?" asked Rip.

  "If it gets loose in that building," Dane decided to give the powers whoheld them in custody something to think about, "they'll have trouble.Practically invisible and poisonous. And maybe it can reproduce its kind,too. We don't know anything about it--"

  Ali laughed. "Such fun and games! Imagine a hundred of the dear creaturesflitting in and out of the broadcasting section. And Captain Jellico hasthe only Hoobat on Terra! He can name his own terms for rounding up theplague. The whole place will be filled with sleepers before they'rethrough--"

  Would that scrap of information send some Patrolmen hurtling off to theTower in search of the caged creature? The thought of such an expeditionwas, in a small way, comforting to the captives.

  An hour or so later they were fed, noiselessly and without visibleattendants, when three trays slid through a slit in the wall at floorlevel. Rip's nose wrinkled.

  "Now I get the vector! We're plague-ridden--keep aloof and watch to seeif we break out in purple spots!"

  Ali was lifting thermo lids from the containers and now he suddenly aroseand bowed in the direction of the blank wall. "Many, many thanks," heintoned. "Nothing but the best--a sub-commander's rations at least! Weshall deliver top star rating to this thoughtfulness when we arequestioned by the powers that shine."

  It _was_ good food. Dane ate cautiously because of his torn lip, but thewhole adventure took on a more rose-colored hue. The lapse of time beforethey were put through the usual procedure followed with criminals, thisexcellent dinner--it was all promising. The Patrol could not yet be surehow they were to be handled.

  "They've fed us," Ali observed as he clanged the last dish back on atray. "Now you'd think they'd bed us. I could do with several days--andnights--of bunk time right about now."

  But that hint was not taken up and they continued to sit on the bench astime limped by. According to Dane's watch it must be night now, thoughthe steady light in the windowless room did not vary. What had Hovandiscovered in the Queen? Had he been able to rouse any of the crew? Andwas the spacer still inviolate, or had the Terrapolice and the Patrolmanaged to take her over?

  He was so very tired, his eyes felt as if hot sand had been pouredbeneath the lids, his body ached. And at last he nodded into naps fromwhich he awoke with jerks of the neck. Rip was frankly asleep, hisshoulders and head resting against the wall, while Ali lounged withclosed eyes. Though the Cargo-apprentice was sure that Kamil was morealert than his comrades, as
if he waited for something he thought wassoon to occur.

  Dane dreamed. Once more he trod the reef rising out of Sargol's shallowsea. But he held no weapon and beneath the surface of the water a gorplurked. When he reached the break in the water-washed rock just ahead,the spidery horror would strike and against its attack he wasdefenseless. Yet he must march on for he had no control over his ownactions!

  "Wake up!" Ali's hand was on his shoulder, shaking him back and forthwith something close to gentleness. "Must you give an imitation of aspace-whirly moonbat?"

  "The gorp--" Dane came back to the present and flushed. He dreadedadmitting to a nightmare--especially to Ali whose poise he had alwaysfound disconcerting.

  "No gorps here. Nothing but--"

  Kamil's words were lost in the escape of metal against metal as a panelslide back in the wall. But no guard wearing the black and silver of thePatrol stepped through to summon them to trial. Van Rycke stood in theopening, half smiling at them with his customary sleepy benevolence.

  "Well, well, and here's our missing ones," his purring voice was the mostbeautiful sound Dane thought he had ever heard.