Part 18 (1/2)

”If anyone does,” replied s.h.i.+nny, ”he does. And I'll tell you this, Captain, if you go to talk to him and I figger you will, you'll find him a lot tougher.”

”Will I?”

”Well, take yourself, for instance. No reflection on you, of course, but take yourself. You're smart, you're hard, and you got a good mind.

You're one of the best s.p.a.cemen in the deep. Take all that and turn it bad. Real bad. Sour it with too many years on a prison asteroid and you've got a fire-eating rocket buster as tough and as rough as G.o.d and society can make him!”

The three cadets gulped and looked at Strong. They saw their skipper clench his teeth and ball his fists into tight knots.

”I know,” said Strong in a hoa.r.s.e whisper, ”but if he knows where Wallace and Simms are, he'll tell me. You can bet your last credit, he'll tell me!”

s.h.i.+nny paused reflectively. ”I won't bet,” he said simply.

The air inside the s.p.a.ce shack was stale because of a faulty filter in the oxygen circulator that neither Wallace nor Simms bothered to clean.

The two men lazed around in stocking feet and unders.h.i.+rts, listening to popular music coming over the audio receiver on a late pickup from one of the small Jovian satellite colonies near by.

”Pour me another cup of coffee, Simms,” grunted Wallace.

The smaller man poured a cup of steaming black liquid and silently handed it over to his companion. They both listened as the music faded to an end and the voice of the announcer crackled over the loud-speaker.

”This audiocast has been beamed to s.p.a.ce quadrants D through K, as a courtesy to the army of uranium prospectors working the asteroid belt.

Hope you've enjoyed it, s.p.a.cemen, and happy hunting!”

Wallace reached over and snapped off the receiver. ”Thanks, pal.” He laughed. ”The hunting's been real good! We've got a full catch!” The giant s.p.a.ceman laughed again.

”Yeah,” agreed Simms. ”I just went over the take. We've got enough money in that locker”--he indicated a black box on the floor--”to sit back and take it easy for the rest of our lives.”

”Yeah?” snarled Wallace. ”You mean sitting in the sun on a crummy lakeside, watching the birds and bees?”

”Gus,” asked Simms thoughtfully, ”you got any idea how much fun we can buy with the credits in that box?”

”Yeah, I have!” sneered Wallace, ”and I know what a thousand times that much will buy too!”

Suddenly Simms turned and looked his partner in the eye. ”What do you say we quit now, Gus? I mean it. We got plenty.”

”You sound like you been exposed to too many cosmic rays!” said Wallace, tapping his head with one finger. ”We've got the biggest secret in the system, the adjustable light-key plus an airtight hide-out, and you want to quit!”

”It ain't that,” whined Simms. ”It's the other deal. I don't mind going out and blasting a few freighters, but to try to--”

”Lissen,” interrupted Wallace, ”I'd rather try it and take the licking if we mess it up, than not try it and take that licking. I know which side of the s.p.a.ce lane I'd better be on when the time comes!”

Simms hesitated and then sighed, ”Yeah, I guess you're right.”

”Come on. Let's listen to that story spool again.”

”Oh, no,” moaned Simms. ”I know that spool by heart! We've heard it at least fifty times!”

”One slip-up,” said Wallace, sticking his finger in Simms' face, ”just one slip-up and we're finished! We've got to be sure!”