Chapter 12: Questions
After Marshall had viewed the disabled pirate's ship through the orbital scope for several minutes, he concluded his gloating and returned his attention to the near field scanning screen. He jolted in his seat when he saw that the second shadow he had observed earlier had closed in so rapidly that it was within no more than six hours of exiting the pipe. 'What the hell is that?' he muttered to himself. Marshall had a gut feeling he knew exactly what it was but it wasn't something he wanted to worry about until it arrived.
On the moon Judith, Debbi and Lucy packed up their equipment and loaded it into the taxi. Two hours later, they were making their final descent to the landing field on Cymbeline.
Marshall couldn't remember the last time he had needed to apprehend someone, and he certainly couldn't remember who had made up the security detail which he had thrown together at the time. He therefore resorted to asking Judith for advice. She had only recently brought Debbi and Lucy back from the moon but he managed to catch her before she took a well-earned spell of off-duty time. She had been on her way to Mo's Place when he had managed to get a message to her.
'Despite the lull, I guessed we might still be in the thick of it.'
'Not out yet, by a long way,' Marshall returned. I have a very strong suspicion that the shadow we identified on the scanner here is going to turn out to be a FBIS ship.
Judith peered at the screen, tracing the outline of the shadow with her finger. 'This is live?'
Marshall nodded.
'Then I believe you do have a FBIS vessel inbound.'
'Your fine work in disabling the pirates is most commendable and I am sure it will gain us great kudos with FBIS. What I would like to do is earn even more by clearing the matter up entirely before they get here.'
'And to accomplish that, I imagine you'd like to have a conversation with captain Scrivens the one which pirate kept bellowing about.'
'Precisely. My problem is we don't have our own formal security detail.'
Judith paced back and forth across Marshall's office a time or two, then stopped, inclining her head and touching a finger to her temple. 'Last time, year before last probably, you used Greg and Big Dan to lay hands on that captain who thought he could sneak off without paying.'
'Ah yes, Greg and Big Dan, that was it.'
'Do you want me to…'
'No, no, Judith. You've done more than enough for one day. And I'm sure the tales of your exploits going around Mo's at the moment will be ripe for a bit of embellishment by the time you get there.'
Judith grinned and left Marshall to his arrangements. While he waited for Scrivens to be brought to him, he called Debbi.
'You did a bang-up job for us all. Saved the whole operation.'
'Well, you might have avoided shots actually being fired if you'd not sought to antagonise the pirates so much.'
'People tend not to think straight when they're angry.'
'Or their aim goes off and they hit things they don't intend. That missile which landed in the scrap yard must have felt awfully close down here.'
Marshall grimaced. 'It did cause a bit of a stir. The viruses you designed to disable customers who may be unwilling to pay had the desired effect.'
'Exactly as I intended. By the way, did you know that half the shells in that antique gun up there were live?'
'You mean like the one which Lucy and Judith blew up an old wreck with? No, I thought they'd all be duds by now.'
'So they might not even have fired out of the breach.'
'Which is why you were there as back-up.'
Debbi grinned. 'I was thinking they were backing me up.'
'They did help by turning The Black Medallion around for you. And if the pirates had dropped their blast shutters down over the windows, you would have been stuck.'
'There's always an infra-red sensor somewhere on the hull.'
'Either way, the joint venture was perfectly effective.'
'Marshall, did you get me up here just to chat over tactics, or was there another reason?'
Marshall indicated the hastening shadow on the screen behind him. 'Judith and I reckon we have Febis on their way. Interceptor class, by the shape of it.'
'It's only an outline.'
'If we're correct, they're using the same stealth technology The Black Medallion used on its approach.'
Debbi met Marshall's eyes with her own. 'I hope you're not about to ask me to disable a Febis vessel.'
Marshall returned her gaze. 'Not likely. But there is a little job I'd like you to have a go at.' He explained his plan in the few minutes it took before the sound of boots could be heard entering the far end of the corridor outside.
'I'll see what I can do,' Debbi said as she left by the rear entrance to the office.
Marshall barely had time to prepare himself before he was presented with captain Scrivens, recently plucked from his room in the hotel by Big Dan and Greg.
'Thank you,' Marshall said to his new security men, 'You may go and join in the festivities. But please keep your eye on the ladies and don't let the celebrations get out of hand, there may be more trouble on its way.'
'May we enquire what that might be?' Big Dan said.
Marshall smiled pleasantly and tapped his nose. 'Later.'
Big Dan nodded and he and Greg left the room.
No more than twenty seconds after they had departed, leaving the man purportedly with the gold alone in Marshall's presence. Marshall had barely begun to formulate his first question when Scrivens leapt up and bounded away through the door. No more than a minute after that, he was delivered back to Marshall with the meaty fist of Greg around one of his arms and the fist of Big Dan firmly around the other. They placed him standing squarely in front of Marshall's desk.
Big Dan leaned over captain Scrivens and said, 'Stay,' in a menacing tone before leaving with Greg.
Scrivens watched them go but made no sudden moves. When he had turned round to face Marshall, Marshall said, 'I'm really surprised, captain, that you thought that when Big Dan and Greg had left the first time, it meant they would not be ready to seize you the instant you tried to run away.'
'Well, I…'
'Do please sit down. And, as Big Dan said, stay there.'
'What do you want?'
'It's possible you may have heard that we have recently been graced by a visit from pirates. To be precise, the captain and his crew of The Black Medallion.'
'Never heard of them,' Scrivens said sulkily.
'Whether you have or not, the captain mentioned in my hearing two things of interest. One was that he wished to speak to the captain of a ship we have in for service.'
'Could be anyone.'
'Except that we have only one ship in for servicing at the moment. Yours.'
'Then they must have arrived at the wrong place.'
'I have reason to think not.'
'Oh? And what was the other insubstantial thing they are supposed to have mentioned.'
'Gold.'
Scrivens emitted a thin, humourless laugh. 'You've been reading too many stories, my friend. Really, pirates and gold?'
Marshall leaned forward on his desk and rotated his displays so that they were visible to both of them. 'Have you ever seen a shadow like this before?'
'With respect, that's some fancy equipment you've got there, Mister Marshall.'
'Mr Brion, to you, chum. Well, do you recognise the outline?'
Scrivens sniffed. 'Just looks like a shadow to me.'
'Two of my most experienced engineers have looked at it and we agree that it is a Febis interceptor.'
At the mention of FBIS Scrivens's colour paled by several shades.
'Oh… really?'
'Indeed, so you have two choices, either you cooperate with me, or you wait a few hours and face interrogation by the captain of a Febis interceptor.'
'Oh, well, if you put it like that.'
'I do, and while we're on the subject of interrogations, do you think you
would have fared any better at the hands of the pirates?'
Grunting something unintelligible, Scrivens shook his head. After a few moments of further reflection, he began talking rapidly, leaving out mention of how he had actually come by gold the pirates appeared to have prior claim to. He said that he had concealed the gold by melting it down and pouring it into standard sections of drill pipe used for mineral exploration. The sections had been bundled up and re-labelled, so that anyone inspecting the cargo would assume they were untouched since leaving the factory. Along with other pieces of mining equipment awaiting delivery elsewhere, they were stacked in the hold of his ship.