opardizing my position as Coordinator here, for the sole
purpose of keeping you three idiots out of jail for a few hours."

"Jail!"

"That's what I said. The brig. The place they put people when they don't
behave. You three are sitting on a nice, big powder keg right now, and
when it blows I don't know how much of you is going to be left."

"Do you think we're lying?" Greg said.

"Do you know what you're charged with?" the Major snapped back.

"Some sort of nonsense about piracy...."

"Plus kidnapping. Plus murder. To say nothing of totally disabling a
seventeen-million-dollar orbit-ship and placing the lives of four
hundred crewmen in jeopardy." The Major picked up a sheet of paper from
his desk. "According to Merrill Tawney's statement, the three of you
hijacked a company scout-ship that chanced to be scouting in the
vicinity of your father's claim. Your attack was unprovoked and violent.
Everybody on Mars knows you were convinced that Jupiter Equilateral was
responsible for your father's death." He looked up. "In the absence of
any evidence, I might add, although I did my best to tell you that." He
rattled the report-sheet. "All right. You took the scout-ship by force,
with the pilot at gunpoint, and made him home in on his orbit-ship. Then
you proceeded to reduce that orbit-ship to a leaking wreck, although
Tawney tried to reason with you and even offered you amnesty if you
would desist. By the time the crew stopped shooting each other in the
dark ... fifteen of them subsequently expired, it says here ... you had
stolen another scout-ship and kidnapped Tawney for the purpose of
extorting a confession out of Jupiter Equilateral, threatening him with
torture if he did not comply...." The Major dropped the paper to the
desk.

Johnny Coombs picked it up, looked at it owlishly, and put it back
again. "Pretty large operation for three men, Major," he said.

The Major shrugged. "You were armed. That orbit-ship was registered as a
commercial vessel. It had no reason to expect a surprise attack, and had
no way to defend itself."

"They were armed to the teeth," Greg said disgustedly. "Why don't you
send somebody out to look?"

"Oh, I could, but why waste the time and fuel? There wouldn't be any
weapons aboard."

"Then how do they explain the fact that the _Scavenger_ was blown to
bits and Dad's orbit-ship ripped apart from top to bottom?"

"Details," the Major said. "Mere details. I'm sure that the company's
l