"Captain Kane," he shouted, "I forbid you to terrorize these people!"
Kane grinned cheerfully. "Keep your hair on, Commander! Nobody's goin' to terrorize anybody. Don't you recognize a salutin' cannon when you see one? Sabrina, here, has told me that this Queen Janine is a stickler for etiquette . . . . "Then his eyes widened as, to the rattle of drums, the procession emerged from around the corner of the palace. He licked his lips as he stared at the high-stepping girl with the Lode Cougar flag—that sash and those boots—especially the boots—did something for her. He muttered to himself, "And you can say that again!"
With a last ruffle of drums Janine and her entourage came to a halt. Kane drew himself to attention and saluted grandly. "Fire one!" snapped somebody inside the pinnace. The brass cannon boomed, making a noise disproportionate to its size. "Fire two!" Again there was the gout of orange flame, the billowing of dirty white smoke. "Fire three!"
At first it looked as though the spearmen, archers and riflemen would either turn and run—or loose their weapons off against the spacemen—but Janine snapped a sharp order and, drawing herself up proudly, stood her ground.
"Fire four!" Boom!
"Fire five!"
Janine was enjoying the show. So was Kane. Sabrina, at his side, winced every time the gun was fired, but tried to look as though this sort of thing was an everyday occurrence. Maya whispered urgently to Grimes, "This noise . . . can't you make him stop it?"
"Fire nine!" Boom!
"Fire ten!"
Janines bodyguard had recovered their composure now and were standing at stiff attention, and there was a certain envy evident in the expressions on the faces of the drummer girls—but the standard bearer spoiled the effect when the drifting fumes of the burning black powder sent her into a fit of sneezing.
"Fire sixteen!" Boom!
Surely not, thought Grimes dazedly. Surely not. A twenty-one gun salute for somebody who, even though she is called a queen, is no more than the mayor of a small town . . . .
"Fire twenty!" Boom!
"Fire twenty-one!" Boom!
"A lesson," remarked Maggie, "on how to win friends and influence people . . . ."
"He certainly influenced me!" said Grimes.
Kane, accompanied by Sabrina, marched to where Janine was standing. He saluted again. Janine nodded to him regally. The standard bearer, recovered from her sneezing fit, dipped her flag toward him. The spearmen and riflemen presented arms. Grimes watched all this a little enviously. He was sorry that Maya had not briefed him regarding Janine's love of ceremonial, as obviously Sabrina had briefed Kane. But it could be that Kane knew Sabrina far better than he, Grimes, knew Maya. There are more things to do in a shared bed than talking—but talking in bed is quite a common practice . . . .
"Shall I fire a burst from the twenty millimeters," asked Pitcher wistfully, "just to show that we can make a noise too?"
"No," Grimes said sternly.
"Sir," called Billard, "here comes another pinnace!"
Danzellan's arrival on the scene was anticlimactic. When he came in to a landing the queen, together with Kane, Sabrina and two of Southerly Buster's officers carrying a large chest of trade goods, had returned to her palace and was staying there.
19
Captain Danzellan was in a bad temper.
He demanded, "Commander Grimes, why didn't you tell me that Drongo Kane was on this planet? I learned it, only by chance, from Lilian after you had left Melbourne—and then my radio officer monitored the conversation you had with your first lieutenant . . . ."
"To begin with," said Grimes tartly, "you didn't ask me. In any case, I gained the impression that you wanted nothing at all to do with me or my people." He was warming up nicely. "Furthermore, sir, I must draw your attention to the fact that the monitoring of Survey Service signals is illegal, and that you are liable to a heavy fine, and that your radio officer may have his certificate dealt with."
Danzellan was not awed. "A space lawyer!" he sneered.
"Yes, Captain. And a space policeman."
"Then why don't you arrest Kane?"
"What for?" asked Grimes. "He has broken no laws—Federation or local. I can neither arrest him nor order him off Morrowvia."
"Commander Grimes, I am paid to look after my owners' interests. I cannot do so properly while this man Kane is running around loose, corrupting the natives. To be frank, if you were not here I should feel justified in taking the law into my hands. Since you are here—I appeal to you, as a citizen of the Federation, for protection."
"Captain Danzellan, Captain Kane is cooking up some sort of deal with the natives. He, like you, is a shipmaster. You represent your owners, Kane is an owner. You allege that he is corrupting the natives and imply that he is queering your pitch. Meanwhile, I am wondering if whatever sort of deal you are cooking up will corrupt the natives . . . ."
"Of course not!" snorted Danzellan. "The Dog Star Line will always have their best interests at heart!"
"And the best interests of the management and shareholders . . . ?" put in Maggie.
Danzellan smiled in a fatherly way. "Naturally, Commander Lazenby. After all, we are businessmen."
"Mphm," Grimes grunted. He said, "Kane is a businessman too."
"But I was here first, Commander Grimes."
"Lode Cougar was here first, Captain Danzellan. Get this straight, sir—unless or until either you or Captain Kane steps out of line I am merely here as an observer."
"Then may I suggest, sir, that you start doing some observing? That is what I intend to do. I am going to call on Janine, now, to see if I can find out what line of goods Kane is peddling."
"I'll come with you," Grimes told him. "Maggie, you'd better come too. And you, Maya, if you wouldn't mind. Mr. Pitcher and Mr. Billard—stay by the pinnace."
The two men and the two women walked across the plaza to the main entrance of the palace. Four natives were standing in the doorway, spearmen of Janine's ceremonial bodyguard. They held their weapons not threateningly but so as to bar ingress.
"Let me pass!" huffed Danzellan.
"The queen insists on privacy," said one of the men.
"But I know Janine. We are good friends."
"The queen said, sir, that she and Captain Kane and her other guests were not to be disturbed."
Grimes nodded to Maya. Possibly she would be admitted while the offworlders were not. The Morrowvian woman walked forward until her breasts were pressing against the haft of one of the spears. She said indignantly, "You know who I am. Let me in!"
The spearman grinned. His teeth were sharp and very white. He said, "I am sorry, lady, but I cannot. Janine mentioned you especially."
"And what did she say?" demanded Maya.
"Do you really want to know, lady?" The man was enjoying this.
"Yes!"
"She said, lady, 'Don't let Commander Grimes or any other foreigners in here while I am in conference. And the same applies to that cat from Cambridge.' "
"Cat from Cambridge . . ." muttered Maya indignantly. "You can tell Janine that should she ever visit my town she will not be received hospitably."
"Well, Commander Grimes," asked Danzellan, "what are you doing about this?"
"What can I do?" countered Grimes irritably.
"We can talk things over," suggested Maggie Lazenby.
"Talk, talk!" sneered Danzellan, "while that damned pirate is raping a planet!"
"It's all that we can do at the moment," Grimes told him. "I suggest that we return to our pinnace. And I suggest that you, sir, do some talking."
"All right," said the shipmaster at last.
* * *
"The Dog Star Line's interest in this world will bring nothing but good to the people," stated Danzellan.
"Mphm," grunted Grimes skeptically.
"But it is so, Commander. If we are allowed to run things our way the planet will remain virtually unspoiled. There will be no pollution of the air, the soil or the seas. Unless the Mor
rowvians so desire it—and I do not think they will—there will be no development of heavy industries. The small luxuries that we shall bring in will demand power, of course—but solar power will be ample for their requirements."
"It all sounds very nice," admitted Grimes, "but what do your employers get out of it?"
"Oh, they'll make a profit—but not from the Morrowvians."
"From whom, then?"
"From passengers. Tourists. As you know, we have been, for many years, primarily freight carriers—but there is no reason why we should not break into the passenger trade, the tourist trade specifically. Trans-Galactic Clippers have been doing very nicely at it for some years now. But TG has the game sewn up insofar as the worlds on their itinerary are concerned.
"Now we, the Dog Star Line, have a new planet of our very own. We can build our own hotels and vacation camps, we can run cruises over the tropical seas in big schooners that we shall build and man—already recruiting for their crews is being opened on Atlantia." He smiled sympathetically at Maya. "I'm afraid that's necessary, my dear. Your people aren't very sea-minded."
"And you think that this scheme will work?" asked Grimes, interested.
"Why shouldn't it work, Commander? The advertising need only be truthful. Think of the posters, the brochures with photographs of all the beautiful, naked women—and, come to that, of the equally beautiful naked men. Visit Morrowvia—and shed your clothing, your cares, your inhibitions! Why, it'll have Arcadia licked to a frazzle!"
Maggie looked very coldly at Captain Danzellan. She said, "Arcadia is not a holiday resort for the idle rich, nor does it wish to be one. Our naturism is a way of life, not an advertising gimmick."
"Are you an Arcadian, Commander Lazenby? But what you said about naturism being a way of life on Arcadia applies equally well to Morrowvia. And we, the Dog Star Line, will do nothing to destroy that way of life. I have studied history, and I know how very often a superior race, a supposedly superior race, has ruined a simple people by forcing upon them unnecessary and unsuitable clothing. We shall not make that mistake."
"No, you won't," said Maggie. "It might affect your profits."
Grimes said, "I still think, Captain Danzellan, that you will ruin this world, whether or not you force the women into Mother Hubbards and the men into shirts and trousers."
Danzellan shrugged. "There's ruin and ruin, Commander Grimes. Which is the lesser of two evils—a flourishing tourist trade, or the introduction of heavy industry? Come to that—will the tourist trade be an evil?"
"And the tourists will pay?" asked Maya. "They will bring us things like the sun-powered cold boxes, and the clocks and the watches, and jewels like the ones that Captain Kane gave to Sabrina? Not that I want jewels," she added virtuously, "but I should like a cold box, and a clock that does not have to have the weights wound up every night."
"Maya is talking sense," said Danzellan.
"Yes, I am talking sense. You people have so many things to make life comfortable that we cannot make for ourselves, that we should not care to go to the trouble of making for ourselves. If offworlders are willing to pay for the pleasure of breathing our air, basking in our sunshine—then let them pay!"
"And there," said Danzellan smugly, "you have the attitude of a typical Morrowvian."
"But she's so simple," expostulated Grimes. "Her people are so simple."
Before Maya could answer Maggie stepped in. She said, "Perhaps not so simple, John. Apart from anything else, they have The History and Morrow's dictums to guide them. Too, there's an odd streak in their makeup . . . . I wish I knew . . . "
"I wish I knew what Kane was up to," said Danzellan.
"Don't we all," agreed Grimes.
20
They sat in the main cabin of Seeker's pinnace—talking, smoking (even Maya tried one of Maggie's cigarillos and said that she liked it) and waiting for something to happen. Danzellan was in touch with his own ship by his wrist transceiver and also, of course, with Mr. Delamere, who had piloted Schnauzer's boat to Ballarat and was remaining inside the craft. Grimes used the pinnace's radio to tell Mr. Saul what had happened so far and, meanwhile, all transceivers not otherwise in use were tuned to a variety of wavebands, in the hope that Drongo Kane's messages (if any) to Southerly Buster could be monitored.
At last Kane's voice sounded from Maggie's transceiver. He said simply, "Blackbird." The reply was almost immediate. "Pinnace to Captain. Blackbird." Then, "Pinnace to Southerly Buster. Blackbird." Finally, faintly, "Southerly Buster to pinnace. Acknowledge Blackbird."
"Blackbird?" echoed Grimes.
"I don't like it," said Maggie. "I don't like it. That word rings some sort of a bell . . . ."
"Captain to Seeker," said Grimes into the microphone of the main transceiver. "Captain to Seeker. Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Captain."
"That you, Mr. Saul? Keep your eyes open for any activities around Southerly Buster. Kane has just sent a message to his ship. It must be a code. Just one word. Blackbird."
"Blackbird . . ." repeated Saul. Then, "Have I your permission to use force?"
"What are you talking about, Saul?"
"Operation Blackbird, Captain. Didn't you know that blackbirding was a euphemism for slave trading?"
"He's right . . ." whispered Maggie. "And there are worlds where women such as these would fetch a good price—some of the Waldegren mining colonies, for example . . . ."
Grimes was thinking rapidly. If he departed at once it would be all of seven hours before he was back aboard Seeker. In seven hours a lot could happen. Saul, as second in command, was in full charge of the ship until her captain's return. Saul, normally, was a most reliable officer—but could Saul, with all his racial prejudices and bitternesses, be trusted to deal with the situation that was developing? Kane would scream to high heaven if a single shot were fired at his precious Southerly Buster, and he would not be the first pirate to have friends in high places—although heaven would not be one of them. Even so, if Kane were about to do something illegal he would have to be stopped.
The situation, Grimes realized, was made to order for Drongo Kane. Seeker's captain was hours away from his ship—and so was Southerly Buster's captain, but it didn't matter. The obnoxious Mr. Dreebly could embark the passengers, quote and unquote, and then lift ship into orbit, where Kane's pinnace could rendezvous with her. And once the Morrowvians were aboard the Buster she would be virtually untouchable insofar as hostile action by Seeker was concerned.
"Mr. Saul," ordered Grimes, "do all you can to prevent the natives from boarding Southerly Buster. Do not use arms unless there is absolutely no alternative. I am returning at once." He turned to Danzellan. "You heard all of that, Captain?"
"Of course, Commander."
"Good. Then I'll ask you to keep an eye on Drongo Kane for me."
"I'll do that, with pleasure." Maggie said, "I'll stay with Captain Danzellan, John. I want to have another look at Lode Cougar's records—if Janine will condescend to let me back into her palace after Kane has left. I have an idea that what I find may have some bearing on this situation. If it's what I'm afraid it might be—then be careful. Be bloody careful."
"I'll try," said Grimes.
"You always do, but . . ." She followed Danzellan as the shipmaster returned to his own pinnace.
Pitcher asked, "Take her up, sir?"
"Yes, Mr. Pitcher. And flog your horses. Put her on a direct Great Circle; we've no time for sightseeing."
While the navigator busied himself with charts and instruments Billard did his best to make the pinnace behave like a guided missile.
* * *
They wasted no time, screaming southward high over the countryside, over the sea. Maya was awed, a little frightened, even, and sat there in silence. Pitcher and Billard exchanged occasional monosyllables, while Grimes stuck to the transceiver. Timmins, the senior radio officer, was at the other end. He reported, "Southerly Buster seems to be ready for immediate lift-off
, sir. All ports, have for the main airlock, have been sealed." Then, a little later, "Two officers have left the ship and are walking toward the town of Oxford. Mr. Saul and Captain Philby have followed them, with six Marines." Later still, "Mr. Saul reports that the way was barred to him and his party by a dozen spearmen and a dozen archers. He is returning to the ship. I'll put him on to you as soon as he's here."
Grimes studied Saul's face in the tiny screen. The man was struggling to repress his smoldering fury. "Captain," he said, "these damned people don't want to be helped. They were there on the river bank, with the spears and bows and arrows, and some damned woman, the deputy queen she said she was, ordered me back. She said, "We don't want you and the likes of you here. Captain Kane warned Sabrina about you."
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