* * * * *
The assembled officers stared at Coran curiously. His lip was still
bruised and swollen. He stared insolently at the group and tried to
thrust all other considerations out of his mind. The girl and his quest
would have to wait. His immediate hurdle was to get out of this mess.
Harriman wet his lips and opened the hearing.
"I won't waste words when we all know why we're here. There is no need
for formality in a hearing of this kind. The captain of the _Aphrodite_
was foully murdered, and this man who calls himself Stephen Coran was
found standing over his body. There was no gun in the room and none on
the prisoner. Coran's papers seem to be in order. They show him to be a
prospector from Mars, en route to Venus, but may be forgeries. That can
be checked. His wife is in quarantine, and will be unable to testify
one way or the other."