“What crew?” The Captain was mystified, still trying to determine just where the child’s voice came from.
“The crew of the Pegasus.” Alice said. “Be careful, Captain!”
“And who are you?” The Captain asked.
“Alice.” She answered, not taking her eyes off Verkhovtseff for an instant.
But Verkhovtseff never went for his blaster, he never tried to jump the Captain from behind, and the Captain was also completely at ease in the Doctor’s presence.
“You’re mistaken, little girl.” The Captain said. “Doctor Verkhovtseff hasn’t left our ship for the last three days. The two of us came here to help you and Second. It’s some other person down below in the cave, someone who’s made himself up to look like our friend Doctor Verkhovtseff. You’re not in any danger here.”
“And what if you’re just made up to look like the First Captain?” Alice asked.
“I’m not made up to look like anyone but myself.” The Captain answered. “You know what I look like, and look at the Blabberyap bird. He knows me too. Bird’s aren’t that easy to deceive. Blabby, you know me?”
“‘Hurry, Captain.’“ The Blabberyap bird said. “‘The formula for galaxion is hidden in the cabinet with the samples of industrial materials. If anything happens to me, get the formula and give it to the Galaxy. It’s very important. Third died for it.’“
The Blabberyap bird spoke in the Second Captain’s voice.
“There. Is that proof enough?” The First Captain said. “Do you believe now? You can come o ut. We’re wasting time. How did you get to the surface. And where are you hiding?”
Alice walked right up to the edge of the steps.
“I’m here” Alice said. “I crawled after the Blabberyap bird.”
“I don’t understand this at all.” Doctor Verkhovtseff said. “Where is that girl? What is, she invisible or something?”
“Of course I’m invisible.” Alice said. “Oh, why don’t you understand? How else could I have gotten away from the pirates?”
And then Alice took off the invisible cap, and even the First Captain, one of the most famous people in the entire Galaxy, gasped from surprise.
Alice’s yellow jump suit was covered with dirt and her sleeves were torn, her face was scratched and her hair was a tangled mess.
“‘Alice, do you want Soya-Bix for breakfast tomorrow?’“ The Blabberyap bird spoke in Professor Seleznev’s voice.
“Smart girl!” The First Captain said.
And they ran to the trap door, because there was not a minute to waste.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Fat Man Lies
“The handcuffs fit.” The Second Captain said. “These are such miserable beings that it’s impossible to trust anything they say.”
“I give you my word that I will not attempt flight.” The fat man said cheerfully.
“You will.” The captain answered with certainty.
At the same time Doctor Verkhovtseff briskly walked straight up to his doppleganger. The image was remarkable. If they had asked me I would have said the real Doctor was the one in the hat; that he was the one we met the first time on the Three Captain’s World.
“Well, impostor,” The Doctor in the space suit said, “show us your real face.”
“I don’t understand you at all.” The Doctor in the hat said, backing up.
Zeleny, who had been standing right behind him, pushed him forwards to meet his double.
“It’s because of you we thought the worst of a good man.” Zeleny said. “Because of you we nearly died.”
“That’s right.” Alice said. “We distrusted the real Doctor Verkhovtseff so much that when he flew here together with the First Captain and tried to warn us we got away as fast as we could and fell into your pit.”
“No!” The false Doctor said. “You won’t touch me!”
Veselchak U suddenly started to laugh.
“Someone else’s skin doesn’t fit too well.” He said. “Never fit me fit me pretending to be someone I wasn’t. I’m an honest pirate.”
The real Doctor Verkhovtseff walked up to the pirate in the hat and looked him over. The pirate had no where to go; Zeleny was behind him.
Suddenly Doctor Verkhovtseff reached out to his double and with a jerk pulled off the man’s head, face and chest.
Immediately we saw the image of the Doctor fall from the pirate, and beneath it made out a totally different being, a non-human. Verkhovtseff had evidently found the control to the holographic projector which gave his pirate doppleganger his features and disabled it.
The hat tumbled to one side. The Doctor’s clothing lay at our feet, and out of the pile of rags which a moment before had been Doctor Verkhovtseff arose an enormous insect, a meter and a half in height, with hairy legs, a round, chitinous body, and large and sharp claws. The insect spread its short wings in an attempt to fly away, but Zeleny was able to grab it from behind. The insect turned its head to him, and opened its claws in threat.
“Careful!” The Second Captain shouted. “He’s poisonous!”
Zeleny pulled his hand back and the Second Captain raised his pistol, aiming it at the pirate.
And then the pirate, seeing there was no where to run, suddenly lifted a long, thick tail with a needle end and struck himself in the chest. He immediately fell, his thin arms spread out.
“He stung himself!” Alice exclaimed. “Just like a scorpion.”
“Scorpions never sting themselves.” I answered. “That’s just a fairy tale. Only rational beings know what death is.”
“It’s all a fake!” The fat man said suddenly. “I want to help you, really I do; I know him better than anyone else. He’s the chief pirate. He’s made us obey him; he’s the one who thought up all our crimes. His name is Ratty; he’s from the dead planet Crocrys. Some time ago the Crocrysi killed each other off in a war and the last of them hid themselves in caves. But he didn’t kill himself. He loves himself too much to do that. He’s just unconscious. He’s thinking that you’ll leave his body here and he will wake up and get away. He’s done that before. Kill him.”
“Why would we want to kill him?” The First Captain said. “He has a date with a court.”
He went over to Krys, who still lay in a pile of clothing, bent down and picked up the light body and handed it to the captive pirates in black uniforms.
“Carry him back to the Pegasus.” The Captain said. “And lock him in a cage. Do you have any empty cages, Professor?”
“Alas, yes. More than one. We’ve gathered far fewer animals than we were counting on. I’ll go to the ship with the pirates and make certain the cage is solid enough.”
“And then we can carry him to a planet where they’ve been searching for him for years, and we’ll let them judge him.”
“That’s right!” The fat man said. “That’s what you want to do with him. He was the one who came up with the idea of impersonating Verkhovtseff. He flew to the base on Arcturus Minor as a fake Verkhovtseff; he was hoping to find the plans to the Blue Gull there so he could open it. As the fake Verkhovtseff he was the one who sold the worms in Palaputra and destroyed all the Blabberyap birds so that the one we were hunting would not be able to reach the First Captain with his request for help. It was he who forced me to give the Professor the diamond backed turtle, and as the fake Verkhovtseff he contaminated the robot’s lubricating oil. He had no mercy! Take him away! Let the courts deal with his betrayer and trickster!”.
“Quiet down, Veselchak U.” The Second Captain said “You can’t hope to avoid punishment for your owncrimes by blaming it all on your partner. The courts will try you too. I’ve chased you across the whole Galaxy. You’ve committed far too many crimes to exculpate yourself by a new betrayal.”
The fat man bit his lips and shut up.
I led two of the pirates, who dragged the unmoving body of Krys, onto the ship. Poloskov came with me because he did not trust the pirates. We locked Krys into our strongest cage and returned. When we got back they were talking about something else.