He up-ended the bottle.
Olcott looked up from the controls. The air was clear, and the
tremendous power of the engines hurled them southward at fantastic
speed.
“Sit over here, Duncan,” he invited. “I want to talk to you.”
“Okay. Let’s have it. You’ve got a job lined up for me, I know that. The
question is—why me?”
Olcott picked his words carefully. “There aren’t many qualified space
pilots in the system. And those are well paid; I couldn’t get at any of
’em. I tried, I’ll admit—but not after I heard about you. Would you
like to make half a million credits?”
“Keep talking.”
“With that many credits, you’d never need to work again. I know a good
surgeon who’d remold your face and graft new fingers on your hands, so
you wouldn’t have to worry about prints. You probably couldn’t be
convicted even if they arrested you—not without complete
identification.”
Duncan didn’t answer, but his lips had gone pale and thin. One is seldom
transported instantly from hell to heaven. Yet Olcott’s offer was—well,
it meant everything, including Andrea.
“Go on,” Duncan said hoarsely. “What d’you want me to do?”
Olcott’s cool, watchful eyes met his own.
“Go into space,” he said, “without a Varra Helmet.”
The plane thundered on, and miles had been left behind before Duncan
spoke again.
“Suicide.”
“No. There’s a way.”
“When I was piloting, no one was allowed to space-travel without a
Helmet. Even with the Varra convoys, people were sometimes killed by the
Plutonians. I remember a few screwballs tried to slip out without the
Varra, but they didn’t live.”
* * * * *
Olcott said, “I’ve found a way of leaving Earth without a Helmet, and
without being detected by the Plutonians. It isn’t sure-fire, but all
the chances are in your favor. Shall I go on?”
“Yeah,” Duncan said tonelessly.
“I need money. I need it bad, just now. And there’s a ship heading for
Earth now that’s got a pound of Martian radium aboard.”
“A pound!”
“A hell of a lot, even considering the big radium deposits on Mars. With
my connections, I can sell the stuff. You’re going to hijack the _Maid
of Mercury_, Duncan, and get that radium.”
“Hijacking a spaceship? It’s crazy.”
“It’s never been done, sure. Nobody’s dared go into space without a
Helmet. And the government issues the Helmets. But look at the other
side of it. We’ve got a few patrol boats—the Interplanetary Police.
Which is a loud, raucous laugh. Rickety tubs with no real armament. You
won’t have to worry about them.”
Duncan took another drink. “It still sounds like suicide.”
“Hartman will explain—the man we’re going to see now. Take my word for
it that you can go into space without a Helmet and be safe. Fairly
safe.”
“Half a million credits—”
“The only danger,” Olcott said carefully, “is that the _Maid_ might send
out an S.O.S. The I.P. ships are rickety, but they’re fast, and they
might stay on your trail. We can’t have that. So we’ve planted somebody
on the _Maid_ who’ll smash the radio apparatus just before you make
contact. You can pick her up with the radium and head back to Earth.”
“Her?”
“You know her, I think,” Olcott said quietly, his eyes impassive.
“Andrea Duncan.”
Duncan moved fast, but there was a gun in Olcott’s hand covering him.
The latter said, “Take it easy. You killed one man with your fists. I’m
taking no chances.”
A tiny scar on Duncan’s forehead flamed red. “You rotten—”
“Don’t be a fool. She’s wearing a Varra Helmet. Of course she’ll take it
off when she joins you, or she’d have a Varra _en rapport_ with her, one
who’d spill the beans completely.”
“Andrea wouldn’t—”
“She doesn’t know all of my plans. And she was willing to help me—as
the price of your freedom. Listen!” Olcott spoke persuasively. “The
girl’s already on the ship. She’s got her instructions. Tomorrow, at
three P.M., she’ll smash the radio. If you’re not on hand to pick her
up—and the radium—she’ll get into trouble. Destroying communications
in space is a penal offense. She might go to Transpolar.”
Duncan snarled deep in his throat. His face was savage.
Olcott kept the gun steady. “Everything’s planned. Be smart, and in a
couple of days you’ll be back on Earth, with Andrea and half a million
credits. If you want to be a damned fool—” the pistol jutted—“it’s a
long drop. And it’ll be tough on the girl.”
“Yeah,” Duncan whispered. “I get it.” His big fists clenched. “I’ll play
it your way, Olcott. I have to. But if anything happens to Andrea, God
help you!”
Olcott only smiled.