LITMIR.BIZ

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moment later he emerged and studied the still angry girl through half-closed eyes. She blushed under his scrutiny, said coldly, “What’s the matter? Afraid I’m not attractive enough for our visitors?”

      He grinned. “You could do with a mite of padding here and there. But I was thinking the other way, as a matter of fact. It’s a pity you don’t have a small mustache.”

      “You don’t have to insult me!” Lee cried bitterly. “I’m glad I’m thin!”

      “I’m not insulting you,” Marc said mildly. “I even wish you were a bit skinnier. It’s the plump girls our guests are going to be looking at first. Remember now—you stick right with me and keep your mouth shut, d’you hear?”

      “I hear,” she said shortly. But he could see the fear she was trying to hide and he knew she was honestly frightened for the first time in her adult life. She said, “What will they—be like?”

      “If it’s John Mantor, and I suspect it is, they’ll be rough,” Marc informed her. “He’s a tough ex-pilot who got bounced off Space Patrol and turned outlaw. He seems to hold a grudge against the whole human race. If it’s one of the others—it may be a lot worse.”

      “I don’t see why outlaws are allowed to exist at all,” she said.

      Marc sighed, shook his head. “A lot of people have felt that way over a lot of pirates over a lot of eras. But somehow they keep turning up.”

      A few minutes later the space-scarred pirate ship had made a rocky landing in the middle of the small spaceport and John Mantor, pirate chief, drove up to the comptroller’s office in a cloud of dust. He was tall and dirty and thin and tough. “Which one of you is the comptroller?” he demanded, as he faced Marc Polder and Lee Treynor.

      “I am,” Marc said, not rising from behind the desk.

      “Then you’re the guy responsible for any trouble here,” Mantor said. “So I’m going to tell you how to avoid trouble.” His brutally scarred face twisted into a grin.

      “There’s a lot of loot around here. I’m not going to ask you where it is. My boys can take care of that matter. But there’s also the Navy warehouse. Maybe we won’t know what some of the stuff in there is for, so you’re going to tell us.”

      Mantor leaned across the desk, his eyes as hard and cold as chips of duratite. “And if you won’t, there’s going to be trouble and you’ll be it—you and your friend here.”

      Marc sat impassively, meeting the hard-eyed gaze. “That warehouse is government property,” he said. “So far, there’s only piracy against you. But if you raid that building you’re going to be the personal problem of the Navy. If I were you I’d leave it alone.”

      “You let me worry about that,” said Mantor.

      “Besides,” Marc went on, “I don’t see what good the stuff in that warehouse can be to you. There’s little of cash value in there. And I doubt if you can use any of the parts on your ship.”

      “That could be,” Mantor replied. “But on the other hand, maybe we can find a market for certain items.” He smiled coldly. Watching, Lee knew he referred to Venus. She sat perfectly still, praying for him not to notice her.

      Mantor spread his hands on the desk, a look of hatred and ferocity on his face. “What I want to know is—are you or are you not going to cooperate? And I want to know fast.”

      “Don’t get me wrong,” Marc said softly. “I’m not telling you what to do or what not to do. But that warehouse is the thing I’m here to protect. And if I were to agree to help you, the Navy would be after me, too. So I’ve got to say to hell with you.”

      John Mantor rocked back on his heels, hooking his thumbs in his belt. A slow smile spread over his face. “Okay,” he said. “I think I get what you mean. So I guess we got to work you over. And we’ll do it where there aren’t any outside witnesses.”

      Marc grinned back at him.

      Lee was puzzled. It took her a moment to realize that the grins sealed a contract between the two men. Marc would cooperate if he were beaten up enough first to satisfy a later investigation—but not too severely for his own comfort!

      Lee found it difficult to hide her contempt. She stared at her hands, clenched in her lap, and waited for Mantor to leave.

      The looting and destruction were well under way an hour later when a couple of Mantor’s men joined their chief, who stood with a somewhat bruised Marc Polder and an unharmed but furious Lee Treynor. Between them they carried a small, obviously heavy box.

      “You know what this stuff is, boss?” one of the men asked. “They got a hundred or a hundred-fifty boxes like this in there.” He nodded at the Navy warehouse.

      They set the box down and Mantor flung back its lid. It was filled with small grey pellets. Mantor picked up a handful and stood fingering them.

      “Looks like rocket fuel,” he said. “Only I’ve never seen any this color. And it’s too heavy, also.” He turned to the comptroller. “You tell me what it is.”

      Marc shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a Navy secret.”

      Mantor’s eyes glinted. Without warning his fist flew out, sent the comptroller sprawling in the dust where he lay stunned. Lee’s hands flew to her mouth barely in time to suppress a cry.

      After a few moments Marc rolled over slowly and pushed himself painfully to a sitting position. He looked up at Mantor who stood watching him coldly, his fist flexing.

      The comptroller licked his lips and looked around at the several men who stood watching, their faces impassive. “Okay,” he said in a none-too-steady voice. “I’ll tell you. You’d find out anyway from the files.”

      “Cut the alibis and give,” Mantor growled.

      “Keep your shirt on.” Marc’s voice indicated he was regaining control of himself. “It’s H.D.T.—Hyper-Degenerate-Thorium—the stuff the destroyers use to get extra push.”

      Mantor roared his glee. “Pack it aboard, boys—all of it! And put it where it will be handy, just in case.”

      This was it, Lee thought as she stood by, watching—the final bitter pill. Mantor had as much as told them he was working for Venus. And the H.D.T. was all Venus needed to be ready for war—a war that might well blast civilization from the Solar System. Strange that so much should depend upon one man; tragic that the one man was a weakling.

      With an effort Lee forced herself to be fair. It might have done no good to lie, she conceded. But anyone with even a normal amount of simple courage would have tried.

      It was about two hours later when the siren went off again like a banshee wailing to a low-hanging moon. Men came running from all directions, shouting questions at the tops of their voices.

      A midget auto came skidding down the pirate ship’s ramp, its driver standing on the accelerator. The car knifed through the swirling crowd, barely missing several people, and skidded to a dusty stop directly in front of Mantor.

      “Radar signal!” the driver yelled. “The search receiver picked up a signal that sounds like a destroyer’s radar. It suddenly came in strong. Probably sneaked up on us from behind that damn moon. It’s coming in fast and braking hard!”

      There was a mad scramble as the looters raced for their ship. Heavy-handed horseplay was forgotten. They knew they were helpless against a Navy destroyer. Their only hope lay in a fast getaway. Seconds could easily spell the difference between safety and defeat.

      In less than ten minutes the ship’s locks were sealed and they fired off. As the flames roared out and the huge ship lifted swiftly it was obvious that they were throwing on all the fuel their jets could take.

      Marc Polder had faded back into the crowd at the first sound of the siren. As he stood watching

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