“And when you hit the Martian atmosphere and start firing against the direction of motion, how much good do you think limited knowledge will do you? Remember, nearly all of the journey will have been made in free fall, and in free fall the auto-controls are fairly efficient. But the instant you hit the atmosphere the slightest miscalculation in the utilization of your fuel reserves can lead to absolute disaster. I don’t know what makes you tick, of course. You may get a distorted kind of pleasure from thinking of yourself as a man marked for death, the same kind of pleasure you get from killing people”.
There was silence for a moment. Then Henley drew in his breath sharply and said: “Are you threatening me, Corriston?”.
“Just warning you”, Corriston said.
“I don’t take kindly to warnings, Corriston. If you’re not careful I’ll put a bullet right through you”.
“Do the men who hired you know how you operate, Henley?”.
It was a stab in the dark, but it brought a quick, enraged reply. “How I operate is my own business. And I don’t like the word ‘hire’. I’d advise you not to use it again. Ramsey’s uranium steal made every miner on Mars decide straight off that I was the right man to lead them. They’re all in back of me, but they don’t control me. I take orders from no one”.
“Maybe they wouldn’t be in back of you if they knew what a scoundrel you are”, Corriston said.
“You may think whatever you please. I don’t mind your calling me a scoundrel if it will ease your mind. Just don’t use the word ‘hire’”.
“I don’t see why you should object to it”, Corriston went on recklessly. “It protects you, in a way. It’s a good word to hide behind. If the colonists knew the truth about you, I don’t think you’d last very long”.
“I’ll last long enough to help you dig your own grave, Corriston, if you keep on with that line of talk. You’re the real lucky one. I missed killing you on the Station because my aim was bad. You were an unexpected complication and you were keeping me upset. I didn’t like it at all”.
“Go ahead. I knew too much. Was that it?” - “Partly. I didn’t know how much you knew or how much you’d guessed. But you were in a position to start a lot of high-powered stuff that could have interfered with my plans in a dozen ways. Now I happen to need you — to a limited extent. But I’m warning you again. Don’t trade on your luck. Don’t force me to kill you, Corriston”. “Perhaps I won’t. Perhaps we can strike a compromise. As I see it, there’s no need for immediate violence. Suppose you take me just a little more fully into your confidence. It can do you no harm now; and there are a few things I’m still curious about”.
“All right, Corriston. What is it you’d like to know?” “How did you manage to stay concealed on the Station when Ramsey’s officers were in full command? You had considerable freedom of movement, apparently, even if you had to move with caution”.
“We had everything planned in advance”, Henley said. “We got to one of Ramsey’s men with bribe money the miners raised, an executive officer named Stockton. We made it worth his while. We had a carefully worked out plan for smuggling Helen Ramsey off the shuttle ship and keeping her hidden until the Mars ship arrived. Stockton had everything prepared: a concealed compartment, food, made our problem more complicated. Stockton helped us get out of the quarantine cage and kept right on protecting us until we no longer needed him”.
“Then you must have known about the masks. You must have known before you arrived that Ramsey’s men were in complete control of the Station”.
“Sure we knew, long before Earth found out. We know exactly what had taken place. You’d be surprised what a few carefully placed bribes can do. We knew that Ramsey had laid himself wide open by substituting his own men for the Station’s commanding officers. We knew exactly how vulnerable he was”.
“I see”, Corriston said. “Ramsey was so vulnerable that any determined attack made upon him would have had a fair chance of succeeding. But you worked out a plan for striking at him in a wholly criminal way, through his daughter. Did the miners know that, Henley? Or did they just give you their backing in a general way? You probably seemed to them the kind of man who would go after Ramsey hammer and tongs”.
“Suppose we just say they knew I’d find a way to make Ramsey meet all of our demands”. Henley smiled thinly. “The details they left to me”. He paused an instant, then went on: “Right after Helen Ramsey disappeared, I did some hard thinking. It occurred to me that she might be wearing a mask too. So I watched all of the women in the quarantine cage and when one of them slipped out I followed her”.
“As simple as that!”
“It wasn’t simple. The girl’s disappearance on the shuttle ship had me completely baffled at first. It wasn’t until we reached the Station that the mask possibility occurred to me”.
“We talked about that once before, remember?”.
“You were lucky then, Corriston. I tried very hard to kill you, simply because I thought you knew more about Helen Ramsey’s disappearance than you actually did. In that dark cargo compartment, with time running out on me, I couldn’t think very clearly. Anything more you’d like to know?”.
“Yes. How many men did Ramsey succeed in substituting for the rightful officers? How many, beside the commander?” “Eight, including the commander. His real name was Henry Hervet. Five were executive officers, two were security guards. They’re all dead now”.
Corriston’s mouth went dry. “Including the one who sold out and helped you?”.
“Yes, Stockton was the first to die. He was dead before the others tried to board this ship. I made sure of that. He was too greedy for his own good”.
“You got back the money you gave him, I suppose”. “Naturally. Money is of very little value to a dead man”. Corriston had gone very pale. There was dread in his eyes when he asked: “And the real Commander Clement? What happened to him? Where is he now?”.
“Stockton told me that after a mask was made of his face he was imprisoned somewhere on the Station”, Henley said. “Clement and seven others. Ramsey gave Hervet strict orders not to kill them. I don’t know where Clement is now, but I can make a pretty good guess. He has probably been released and is in full Command of the Station again”. Henley stood very still for a moment, very straight and still, and Corriston could feel the gun nudging the small of his back again.
“I may as well tell you now that I’m going to have to lock you in, Corriston”, Henley said. “When I turn the key on this room your sole responsibility will be right here with the controls. You’ll have to sleep and eat here, and I don’t intend to bring you any fancy meals. You’ll hear a knock on the door three times a day. You’ll get a tray with some food on it”.
“You’ll have to decide for yourself how much sleep you can afford to take. And remember this: I’ll be keeping a careful check on every navigational move you make. Not a too accurate check, perhaps, but I’ll know enough. If you throw the ship off course I’ll find out about it, and I’ll want to know why. Be ready with your answers and make sure they carry weight. Any more questions, Corriston?”.
Corriston shook his head. “No. The quicker you get out of here the better I’ll feel”.
“All right, I’ll leave you now. It’s naturally to my benefit to try to see things from your point of view. And just in case you’re worrying about Helen Ramsey — don’t. Nothing is going to happen to her, provided you stay in line. If you want me don’t hesitate to buzz. That’s what the intercom is for”.