'Yeah, yeah ... I take your word for it, you're a flying bomb. So stop with this roving reporter bit and tell me what you have in mind.'
This time I didn't answer her, because I was running and panting like a dog, and had the mike turned off. Just ahead, if the blueprints were right, was the door to the control room. Pepa should be there.
I stepped through, gun out, and pointed it at the back of her head. Angelino stood next to her, looking at the screen.
'The game's over,' I said. 'Stand up slowly and keep your hands in sight.'
'What do you mean,' she said angrily, looking at the screen in front of her. The boy caught wise first. He spun around and pointed.
'She's here!'
They both stared, gaped at me, caught off guard and completely unprepared.
'You're under arrest, crime-queen,' I told her. 'And your boy friend.'
Angelino rolled his eyes up and slid slowly to the floor. Real or faked, I didn't care. I kept the gun on Pepa's pudgy form while she picked his up and carried his to an acceleration couch against the wall.
'What ... what will happen now?' She quavered the question. Her pouchy jaws shook and I swear there were tears in her eyes. I was not impressed by her acting since I could clearly remember the dead women floating in space. She stumbled over to a chair, half dropping into it.
'Will they do anything to me?' Angelino asked. His eyes were open now.
'I have no idea of what will happen to you,' I told his truthfully. 'That is up to the courts to decide.'
'But she made me do all those things,' he wailed. He was young, dark and beautiful, the tears did nothing to spoil this.
Pepa dropped her face into her hands and her shoulders shook. I flicked the gun her way and snapped at her.
'Sit up, Pepa. I find it very hard to believe that you are crying. There are some Naval ships on the way now, the automatic alarm was triggered about a minute ago. I'm sure they'll be glad to see the woman who....'
'Don't let them take me, please!' Angelino was on his feet now, his back pressed to the wall. 'They'll put me in prison, do things to my mind!' He shrunk away as he spoke, stumbling along the wall. I looked back at Pepa, not wanting to have my eyes off her for an instant.
'There's nothing I can do,' I told him. I glanced his way and a small door was swinging open and he was gone.
'Don't try to run,' I shouted after him, 'it can't do any good!'
Pepa made a strangling noise and I looked back to her quickly. She was sitting up now and her face was dry of tears. In fact she was laughing, not crying.
'So he caught you, too, Ms. Wise-cop, poor little Angelino with the soft eyes.' She broke down again, shaking with laughter.
'What do you mean,' I growled.
'Don't you catch yet? The story he told you was true--except he twisted it around a bit. The whole plan, building the battleship, then stealing it, was his. He pulled me into it, played me like an accordion. I fell in love with him, hating myself and happy at the same time. Well--I'm glad now it's over. At least I gave his a chance to get away, I owe his that much. Though I thought I would explode when he went into that innocence act!'
The cold feeling was now a ball of ice that threatened to paralyze me. 'You're lying,' I said hoarsely, and even I didn't believe it.
'Sorry. That's the way it is. Your brain-girls will pick my skull to pieces and find out the truth anyway. There's no point in lying now.'
'We'll search the ship, he can't hide for long.'
'He won't have to,' Pepa said. 'There's a fast scout we picked up, stowed in one of the holds. That must be it leaving now.' We could feel the vibration, distantly through the floor.
'The Navy will get him,' I told her, with far more conviction than I felt.
'Maybe,' she said, suddenly slumped and tired, no longer laughing. 'Maybe they will. But I gave his her chance. It is all over for me now, but he knows that I loved his to the end.' She bared her teeth in sudden pain. 'Not that he will care in the slightest.'
I kept the gun on her and neither of us moved while the Navy ships pulled up and their boots stamped outside. I had captured my battleship and the raids were over. And I couldn't be blamed if the boy had slipped away. If he evaded the Navy ships, that was their fault, not mine.
I had my victory all right.
Then why did it taste like ashes in my mouth?
It's a big galaxy, but it wasn't going to be big enough to hide Angelino now. I can be conned once--but only once. The next time we met things were going to be very different.
THE END
Artwork by Janet Goulden
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JEKKARA PRESS
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Coming Soon
The Adventures of Bulays and Ghaavn
Slave Ship of Space – Tara Loughead
The Saturn Mistress – Tara Loughead
The Gender Switch Adventures
The Dark World Relit – Henrietta Kuttner
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