"What men, Toby?" I said softly.
"The crew. Day, Macy, the others. They're still in there,
Jackson--aboard the ship, in stasis. We were trying to get the ship off
when the attack came. There was forty minutes' warning. Everything was
ready to go. You were on a test run; there wasn't time to cycle you
out...."
"Keep talking," I rapped.
* * * * *
"You know how the system was set up; it was to be a ten-year run out,
with an automatic turn-around at the end of that time if Alpha Centauri
wasn't within a milli-parsec." He snorted. "It wasn't. After twenty
years, the instruments checked. They were satisfied. There was a
planetary mass within the acceptable range. So they brought me out." He
snorted again. "The longest dry run in history. I unstrapped and came
out to see what was going on. It took me a little while to realize what
had happened. I went back in and cycled Banner and Mackenzie out. We
went into the town; you know what we found. I saw what we had to do,
but Banner and Mac argued. The fools wanted to reseal _Prometheus_ and
proceed with the launch. For what? So we could spend the rest of our
lives squatting in the ruins, when by stripping the ship we could make
ourselves kings?"
"So there was an argument?" I prompted.
"I had a gun. I hit Mackenzie in the leg, I think--but they got clear,
found a car and beat me to the Site. There were two Bolos. What chance
did I have against them?" Mallon grinned craftily. "But Banner was a
fool. He died for it." The grin dropped like a stripper's bra. "But
when I went to claim my spoils, I discovered how the jackals had set
the trap for me."
"That was downright unfriendly of them, Mallon. Oddly enough, it
doesn't make me want to stay and hold your hand."
"Don't you understand yet!" Mallon's voice was a dry screech. "Even
if you got clear of the Palace, used the Bolo to set yourself up as
Baron--you'd never be safe! Not as long as one man was still alive
aboard the ship. You'd never have a night's rest, wondering when one of
them would walk out to challenge your rule...."
"Uneasy lies the head, eh, Toby? You remind me of a queen bee. The
first one out of the chrysalis dismembers all her rivals."
"I don't mean to kill them. That would be a waste. I mean to give them
useful work to do."
"I don't think they'd like being your slaves, Toby. And neither would
I." I looked at Renada. "I'll be leaving you now," I said. "Whichever
way you decide, good luck."
"Wait." She stood. "I'm going with you."
I looked at her. "I'll be traveling fast, honey. And that gun in my
back may throw off my timing."
She stepped to me, reversed the pistol and laid it in my hand.
"Don't kill him, Mr. Jackson. He was always kind to me."
"Why change sides now? According to Toby, my chances look not too good."
"I never knew before how Commander Banner died," she said. "He was my
great-grandfather."