‘You are bloodthirsty, Doctor,' Fiske said, his glance tinged with censure. 'The ransom has been set…’
‘On Algemeine?' Luzon snorted with scorn. 'It'll never be paid.’
‘What do you mean?' Fiske sat forward, concerned.
Luzon waved his hand at such folly. 'My dear Fiske, Marmion Algemeine is one of the top financiers in the known galaxy. She would adhere to the Code out of principle, unlike the cravens on the Amber Unicorn.’
‘What Code do you mean?' Fiske repeated, now seriously agitated.
‘Why, the Anti-Extortion Code, of course. Surely you're aware that the really rich have the most stringent laws against the payment of ransoms? To prevent wholesale kidnappings and the payment of vast sums of ransom monies? A wise move and no-one has tested the Code since the spectacular and highly publicized failure of the Amber Unicorn ploy over a hundred years ago.’
‘But… but… Louchard is smart and ruthless. He'll figure a way around it.’
‘Not if he was fool enough to choose Marmion de Algemeine, he won't,' Luzon said, dismissing the matter with a snort. 'Why, what's the matter?’
For his handsome guest had turned quite pale under his space tan.
‘Then Maddock and those kids will die too?’
‘Of course. They've no assets… unless…' and now Matthew rubbed the carved jade head of his cane against his lips. The coolness of jade was so soothing and helped him think. 'Unless Louchard can figure out a way to get concessions out of Petaybee.' Immediately the words were out of his mouth, Luzon cancelled that possibility - until he glanced at Fiske again. 'Don't tell me that was your master plan, Fiske?' he asked scornfully. 'Tell me - what was Louchard like?’
‘I never met Louchard,' Fiske said, his expression set, his tone distracted, like that of a man, Luzon recognized, who is thinking very fast about something else entirely.
‘But didn't you mention to me the fact that Louchard was involved in the smuggling of those miserable quantities of ore that were extracted from the planet?’
Actually both men knew that Fiske had mentioned no such thing and Louchard's involvement was speculation. Still, that would account for the pirate being willing to kidnap that wretched trio in the hope of being able to obtain concessions no-one else had had from Shongili. Luzon would never believe it was the planet: therefore the mind behind all his misfortunes on Petaybee had to be the very human one of the man who stood to lose most - Sean Shongili.
‘He might just do something to protect that unborn bastard of his, at that,' Luzon mused. 'Where are you going, Fiske? You bring me such interesting news.' But Luzon's words did not pass the door that Torkel Fiske had slammed behind him.
It was a considerably more cheerful Luzon who began tapping out numbers on his comlink.
15
‘I don't mean to pry or open a very sore subject, Namid,' Marmion said when they had all rehashed, parsed and argued over the latest visit from their captors, 'but have you any more relevant information about your ex-wife that we might use to advantage?’
Namid pointed to the corner of their room where he thought the listening device was planted. Then he continued speaking in such ringing, dramatic tones that they understood he wanted every word to be overheard by their unseen monitor, particularly if that monitor was the object of Marmion's enquiry. It occurred to Marmion that perhaps since the man had been unable to communicate effectively directly with Dinah, he was using the opportunity of talking about her more or less publicly to try to make an impression on her instead.
‘They say,' and he sighed,' that we never really know the people we love. When I first met Dinah, I thought I had never been so close to anyone. Not only was she attractive, intelligent and interested in my work, but she had a great deal of drive, a lot of passion that I'm afraid I misconstrued at the time. Love blinds us, or something like that. We talked for hours. I told her about my work and she was quite honest about her early years: the death of her parents when she was far too young to be alone; her first marriage at sixteen to a wealthy, ruthless man who left her an interest in certain enterprises - of which I suspect this is one. She was quite frank about her other marriages, most of them for convenience and empire building, until ours. I genuinely believe it was a love match on her side as well, at least at first.
‘She so desperately wants connections, you know. Her family was among those scooped up by Intergal when they were buying up wars and other inconvenient impasses on Earth to populate their experimental colony planets. Your Petaybee was one of the early ones, of course. Since the "colonists" were divided in the interest of breaking up political factions, many families were split and settled in different places. Dinah's great-great-grandfather came from a long line of sea-faring people and had worked with the paramilitaries. She seems to believe he was some sort of great patriot, but he apparently adapted well enough to spacing and became one of Intergal's top cryptographers. At some point he married a fellow exile who had also chosen a Company career over colony life.
‘Dinah says that most of their progeny were prevented from advancing in the Company because of IntergaFs nepotism, but I think she might be a bit prejudiced. Surely none of them became wealthy and when her parents died, Dinah had a rough time supporting herself. She told me candidly that she used her looks at first. Then, when she met the right people, her intelligence got her jobs as messenger, despatching, and freelance computer hacker, which was what she was doing when she met her first husband. She looks at her involvement as protecting her inheritance and investments, I believe. But I had absolutely no idea she was connected with piratical acts until she brought me aboard.’
‘Didn't you know anything about her business?' Marmion asked.
‘Oh, yes, I knew she was involved in "shipping" as cargo-master' Diego interrupted him with a snort. 'Or should I say "purser",' Namid added in a show of humour that made Marmion give him one of her genuinely warm smiles. He had to pause but went on. 'That explained her absences and odd schedule. She was so interested in my work: variables and what star systems were likely to spin out ore-laden planets and well, all the practical applications of astronomy. It all seemed so harmless, so natural.' He hunched his shoulders in frustration. 'And she is, you must admit,' he now addressed the remark to Diego, 'a very attractive person.’
‘Ha!’
‘And clever as she can stare,' Bunny said with slightly sour admiration. 'That nice guy,' bad guy ploy she and Megenda were pulling is so old it's got whiskers longer than Uncle Seamus.’
‘Unfortunately, we end up falling for it because we don't know when farce and fact meet,' Yana said.
‘Oh, how I'd like to get that Megenda inside Petaybee for just five minutes…' Bunny said, fingers going to the scab on her face.
‘Let's not be vindictive. We know he was only playing a part and may be a very nice fellow off-duty, aside from an unfortunate tendency towards child abuse,' Marmion said, glancing at the bruises on her young friends' faces.
‘"When a felon's not engaged in his employment, his employment…" ' Namid sang in such a rich baritone that Marmion regarded him with amazement. ' "Or concocting his felonious little plans." Gilbert and
Sullivan's little operettas are as cogent today as they ever were…’
‘Go on,' Marmion urged, her eyes wide with delight.
‘"His capacity for innocent enjoyment, 'cent enjoyment, is just as great as any honest man's."’
Marmion laughed and laughed and laughed and Yana found herself smiling at such contagious mirth. Even Diego grinned.
‘I like the tune,' Bunny said diplomatically but her confusion was obvious.