“Yes, it will!” Veselchak U said. “But don’t think that you can save the idiot professor and his people by blowing up the Blue Gull; no, that is a mistake. I give you the solemn word of the Black Cloud gang that they will suffer oh, how they will suffer. Why other use are captives to me. As soon as I set them free they’d tell the Galactic Patrol all about my little world here, and in a month every police ship in the Galaxy would be hunting for me. No, I want them thinking I’m dead now and for a good long while to come.”
“Then there’s no reason for me not to tell these people everything. I’ve never met them before, but if they’re your captives that serves as a good enough character reference. We’ll hear what they say once I’ve told them my tale.”
“No!” The fat man shouted.
“Shut up.” The Captain said calmly. “Are you going anywhere soon? Desperate to carry out our threat?”
“Let him talk.” Doctor Verkhovtseff said suddenly. “He knows they had the Blabberyap on their ship. Let him talk; it won’t save them.”
The fat man clasped his hands. “All right.”
“Then listen, professor, gentlemen. There were three of us, three star captains. Many years ago we learned that actual space pirates had appeared in the Galaxy. These pirates wanted money, precious jewels, but mostly they wanted power. They wanted to become Lords of the Galaxy. We learned about them when they attacked the planet Triada and stole a ship from there. We finally caught up with the pirates when they conquered another world and forced its natives into slavery. That was where they began to build warships in secret so they could attack the trade routes. I could take a long time describing how we tracked them down, how we infiltrated the enslaved planet, and how we led an uprising against the conquerors…”
“You took us by surprise.” The fat man roared.
Doctor Verkhovtseff waved his hand: “Let him talk. He doesn’t have much time left for it.”
“And so,” The Captain waited until the pirates grew silent, “two of the pirates were able to get away. For some years they hid out here at the outskirts of the Galaxy, far from the main trade routes. Everyone forgot there had ever been pirates.”
“But we didn’t.” The fat man said. “We didn’t forget anything.”
“Yes.” The Second Captain agreed. “They have forgotten nothing, and learned nothing, and have not abandoned their plans. Most of all, they want revenge on us, the three captains who stopped them the first time.
“And we have our revenge!” Veselchak U said.
“Slow down. Nothing has been resolved yet. And in the final analyses you are going to loose. There’s no way you can overcome the entire Galaxy.”
“But we will.” The fat man said.
The Second Captain ignored him. He continued.
“A number of years passed. The three of us split up. The First Captain flew off to the Venus terraforming project. The Third Captain decided to make the jump to the Andromeda Galaxy, because no one had ever visited our neighboring galaxy before. I busied myself with scientific observations. Then suddenly I received a transmission from the Third Captain. He advised me that he was returning from his expedition. The transmission was very unexpected, because no one expected him to return so soon. My friend asked me to meet him at the edge of the Galaxy, because he had very important news for us. I abandoned my work and hurried to meet him.”
“But he didn’t know that we had intercepted the transmission.” The fat man boasted, clasping and unclasping hands, “and we knew everything.”
“Yes.” The Second Captain said. “They had intercepted the Third Captain’s transmission, because the planet on which they were hiding out on was the same world to which I and my friend were now hurrying. My friend was seriously ill. The long flight, longer than any taken by any inhabitant of our Galaxy, had sapped his strength, and he was afraid he would be unable to reach Earth or his home planet Fyxx. And he was carrying very important information. The inhabitants of the Andromeda Galaxy had given him the formula for galaxion, the ultimate fuel source, the means of tapping into the energy of space itself. A ship with galaxion powered engines will fly a hundred times faster than anything now in space. Planets will become as close as neighboring cities on Earth or Mars. The Andromedans had rebuilt his engines to use the fuel source, and the Third Captain was flying toward this planet without suspecting that it was a pirate lair, and he landed here. His sickness had progressed so far he could no longer pilot his ship. The pirates marked where his ship landed and followed after, but they made no attempt to take him. They decided to wait for my arrival and learn just what the important news the Third Captain was bringing. While he was unconscious they got aboard his ship and placed listening devices, while the ship itself they moved to the false field above here.
“You must admit we did an excellent job of preparing for your arrival.” Veselchak U said.
“When I landed my ship beside the Third Captain’s I found my friend in very serious condition. The Captain told me of his voyage and about the formula for galaxion. I realized that the most important thing now was to get Third to Earth, where he could be cured. But I also knew he would not survive the trip through space, and I decided to remain here with him until he grew a little stronger. I hurried back to my own ship for medicines, but while I was searching through the medical supplies the pirates tipped the lock above us and both our ships dropped into this cavern.
“It all went according to plan!” The fat man said.
“Naturally,” the Second Captain continued, “they feared attacking me above ground. When I came to I saw the Blue Gull was in a cave. They flicked on the light, and the creature now standing next to you came into it. I recognized him and realized the pirates had out-tricked me. They promised to free me in exchange for the galaxion formula. They boasted how the fuel source would make their ships fly so fast no one else would be able to catch them, they would have nothing to fear from the Space Patrol, and every cargo ship in the Galaxy would be theirs for the taking. I realized that there was no way I could possibly give them the formula and could never allow myself to fall into their hands alive. I smashed the lock and refused them entry to the Blue Gull.”
“What happened to the Third Captain?” Poloskov asked.
“They tried to cut into our ships to take us captive. They succeeded with the Third Captain’s ship, and he fell into tier hands. Most likely they murdered him.”
“Not true!” The fat man said. “Not true at all. He died all on his own, from his sickness. You yourself know how seriously ill he was. When we cut through into the ship he was already dead.”
“But they were unable to cut into the Blue Gull.” The Captain said. “My ship’s hull is composed of a diamond based composite material. On board I had a blabberyap bird, a gift from the Firs Captain. The two of us had an agreement; if anything were to happen I should let the Blabberyap bird go with instructions to fly to Venus and seek out the First Captain. The First Captain knows how to get the bird to tell him where I am and what happened to me.”
“But we couldn’t.” I said. “We got the Blabberyap to say a few things, but, unfortunately, not very much.”
“But how did you acquire him?” The Second Captain asked.
“He was wounded,” I said. “from when the pirates were chasing him.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.” The fat man agreed.
“But the blabberyap bird was able to get away. He made it to the planet Eyeron and the robots their fixed his wing…”