The Stainless Steel Rat

Chapter 7

When the alarm blew off, all I felt was an intense sensation of relief. I might be dead and blasted to dust in the next few minutes, but that didn’t seem to make much difference.

Pepe had swallowed the bait. There was only one ship in the galaxy that could knock back a blip that big at such a distance. It was closing fast, using the raw energy of the battleship engines for a headlong approach. My ship bucked a bit as the tug-beams locked on at maximum distance. The radio bleeped at me for attention at the same time. I waited as long as I dared, then flipped it on. The voice boomed out.

“…That you are under the guns of a warship! Don’t attempt to run, signal, take evasive action, or in any other way…”

“Who are you—and what the devil do you want?” I spluttered into the mike. I had my scanner on, so they could see me, but my own screen stayed dark. They weren’t sending any picture. In a way it made my act easier, I just played to an unseen audience. They could see the rich cut of my clothes, the luxurious cabin behind me. Of course they couldn’t see my hands.

“It doesn’t matter who we are,” the radio boomed again. “Just obey orders if you care to live. Stay away from the controls until we have tied on, then do exactly as I say.”

There were two distant clangs as magnetic grapples hit the hull. A little later the ship lurched, drawn home against the battleship. I let my eyes roll in fear, looking around for a way to escape—and taking a peek at the outside scanners. The yacht was flush against the space-filling bulk of the other ship. I pressed the button that sent the torch-wielding robot on his way.

“Now let me tell you something,” I snapped into the mike, wiping away the worried billionaire expression. “First I’ll repeat your own warning—obey orders if you want to live. I’ll show you why—”

When I threw the big switch a carefully worked out sequence took place. First, of course, the hull was magnetized and the bombs fused. A light blinked as the scanner in the cabin turned off, and the one in the generator room came on. I checked the monitor screen to make sure, then started into the spacesuit. It had to be done fast, at the same time it was necessary to talk naturally. They must still think of me as sitting in the control room.

“That’s the ship’s generators you’re looking at,” I said. “Ninety-eight per cent of their output is now feeding into coils that make an electromagnet of this ship’s hull. You will find it very hard to separate us. And I would advise you not to try.”

The suit was on, and I kept the running chatter up through the mike in the helmet, relaying to the ship’s transmitter. The scene in the monitor receiver changed.

“You are now looking at a hydrogen bomb that is primed and aware of the magnetic field holding our ships together. It will, of course, go off if you try to pull away.” I grabbed up the monitor receiver and ran toward the air lock.

“This is a different bomb now,” I said, keeping one eye on the screen and the other on the slowly opening outer door. “This one has receptors on the hull. If you attempt to destroy any part of this ship, or even gain entry to it, this one will detonate.”

I was in space now, leaping across to the gigantic wall of the other ship.

“What do you want?” These were the first words Pepe had spoken since his first threats.

“I want to talk to you, arrange a deal. Something that would be profitable for both of us. But let me first show you the rest of the bombs, so you won’t get any strange ideas about co-operating.”

Of course I had to show him the rest of the bombs, there was no getting out of it. The scanners in the ship were following a planned program. I made light talk about all my massive armament that would carry us both to perdition, while I climbed through the hole in the battleship’s hull. There was no armor or warning devices at this spot, it had been chosen carefully from the blueprints.

“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 him, 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. Pepe should be there.

I stepped through, gun out, and pointed it at the back of his head. Angelina stood next to him, looking at the screen.

“The game’s over,” I said. “Stand up slowly and keep your hands in sight.”

“What do you mean,” he said angrily, looking at the screen in front of him. The girl caught wise first. She spun around and pointed.

“He’s here!”

They both stared, gaped at me, caught off guard and completely unprepared.

“You’re under arrest, crime-king,” I told him. “And your girl friend.”

Angelina rolled her eyes up and slid slowly to the floor. Real or faked, I didn’t care. I kept the gun on Pepe’s pudgy form while he picked her up and carried her to an acceleration couch against the wall.

“What… what will happen now?” He quavered the question. His pouchy jaws shook and I swear there were tears in his eyes. I was not impressed by his acting since I could clearly remember the dead men floating in space. He stumbled over to a chair, half-dropping into it.

“Will they do anything to me?” Angelina asked. Her eyes were open now.

“I have no idea of what will happen to you,” I told her truthfully. “That is up to the courts to decide.”

“But he made me do all those things,” she wailed. She was young, dark and beautiful, the tears did nothing to spoil this.

Pepe dropped his face into his hands and his shoulders shook. I flicked the gun his way and snapped at him.

“Sit up, Pepe. 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 man who…”

“Don’t let them take me, please!” Angelina was on her feet now, her back pressed to the wall. “They’ll put me in prison, do things to my mind!” She shrunk away as she spoke, stumbling along the wall. I looked back at Pepe, not wanting to have my eyes off him for an instant.

“There’s nothing I can do,” I told her. I glanced her way and a small door was swinging open and she was gone.

“Don’t try to run,” I shouted after her, “it can’t do any good!”

Pepe made a strangling noise and I looked back to him quickly. He was sitting up now and his face was dry of tears. In fact he was laughing, not crying.

“So she caught you too, Mr. Wise-cop, poor little Angelina with the soft eyes.” He broke down again, shaking with laughter.

“What do you mean,” I growled.

“Don’t you catch yet? The story she told you was true—except she twisted it around a bit. The whole plan, building the battleship, then stealing it, was hers. She pulled me into it, played me like an accordion. I fell in love with her, hating myself and happy at the same time. Well—I’m glad now it’s over. At least I gave her a chance to get away, I owe her that much. Though I thought I would explode when she 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-boys will pick my skull to pieces and find out the truth anyway. There’s no point in lying now.”

“We’ll search the ship, she can’t hide for long.”

“She won’t have to,” Pepe 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 her,” I told him, with far more conviction than I felt.

“Maybe,” he said, suddenly slumped and tired, no longer laughing. “Maybe they will. But I gave her her chance. It is all over for me now, but she knows that I loved her to the end.” He bared his teeth in sudden pain. “Not that she will care in the slightest.”

I kept the gun on him 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 girl had slipped away. If she evaded the Navy ships, that was their fault, not mine.

I had my victory all right.

Bit I wasn’t too happy about it. I had a premonition that I wasn’t finished with Angelina yet.