Chapter 12

There was nothing there. The huts were empty, and had been for some months.

"Shit," I swore as I kicked over a tin can. "Let's go back to the ship and have a think."

I had set the 299 down in front of the buildings, so we didn't have to walk too far. The scans from orbit had shown they were empty.

I punched up a mug of coffee. I sipped the hot brew, while I mulled over a few things.

"Right," I said putting down my now empty mug. "There are three possible scenarios, here."

"Three?" queried Candy.

"Yeah," agreed Lila. "Number one, is our late but unlamented Pirates have been selling off the gold a bar at a time. They were down to... ah... thirty two bars when we caught up to them."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But if that's the case, where's the money they got for them?"

"Good point," said Lila.

"Ok, so what's number two?" asked Candy.

"That we have recovered all the gold, and the bank is running some kind of insurance fraud," I said.

"Yes!" Candy snapped. "I've never did trust that Bank."

"Well, if that's so, why were there two extra bars?" asked Lila.

"Yes," I agreed. "So, that just leaves just one other scenario."

"And that is?" asked Candy.

"That the transport ship was in on the robbery," I said, "and those thirty-two bars were the pirate's split."

"Yeah, that's why there was thirty two bars," said Lila. "Eight bars for each man."

"Right! So we need to find out who the haulers were," I said.

It didn't take long to find out, for there were only two firms big enough to do that sort of business.

"Space Security!" said Candy. "It's on their web site that they haul for that bank."

"Right. Bring up details of the robbery," I said looking over her shoulder at the screen.

"Oh, nasty," sighed Candy. "Transport Captain shot for not opening the vault. Head of Security shot once he had opened it, and a couple of other crew members shot, too."

"Well, we know that they weren't in on it," I said with a grin. "Leaving how many?"

"First Officer, Deputy Security Officer, and two crew," said Candy.

"Four people with what... twenty eight bars to split between them? That gives them seven bars each," I said.

"Less than the pirates got," said Lila, "but what the heck."

"Yeah," I said, feeling a big grin spread over my face. "So where are they now?"

"Apparently the ship took a beating. At the moment it's at their maintenance depot," said Candy.

"Which is where?" I asked.

"Beta three," she said.

"Right! Let's go, then," I said.

"What are we going to do once we get there?" asked Lila. "We can't just ask them politely to hand over the gold."

"That depends how and who we ask," I said with a laugh. "Here."

I handed her a print out.

"That's the Deputy Security Officer," I said.

"No shit?" whistled Lila looking at the attractive women in the picture.

"Twenty eight years old, with five years experience on the gold run," I said reading from a second print out. "She could just be the weak link."

"Yeah," said Lila with a lopsided grin. "With her wired up to the bus bars, I'm sure she'll spill the beans."

"Lila, Lila," I said. "Your nasty background is coming out. 'Wire her up to the bus bars', for shame."

"It works, though," she said with a grin. "She'll stink a bit afterwards, of course, but a high pressure hose will soon sort that out."

We didn't wire her up, of course but the hold of 299 could be slowly vented of its air.

"Now, Miss," I said, looking down at the attractive women now chained to the bulkhead. "All you have to do is press this button, when you're ready to tell us all."

She had been easy to kidnap, for she was still in her distinctive Space Security uniform.

"Ok," I said to Lila. "Open the hold to the atmosphere."

At twenty miles above the planet, the outside was a nearly vacuum.

"Not too fast!" I snapped. "Just enough for her to hear the hiss, as the air escapes."

"Me, I would rather clip a wire to her fanny, and another on her tits. Then I'd put twenty thousand volts through her," mumbled Lila.

"If this doesn't work, we'll try your way next time," I said.

Of course it did work. After just five minutes the light was flashing as she pushed the button again, and again.

"It's still on board," she gushed, once I had restored the air. "We didn't dare move it."

"There, that wasn't hard," I said patting the top of her head.

"So what now?" asked Lila.

"I don't know," I mused. "It's time for a mug of coffee, and a long think."