Tambu

by Robert Asprin

  That only emphasized their problem. Scorpion couldn't wait to be fired on to identify her enemies. How to pierce the cloak of secrecy? How to anticipate...

  Perhaps that was the answer. How did pirates know where to hunt? Surely pirates couldn't rely on circumstance to find ships to prey on. They needed some method to find target ships-specifically target ships with large, expensive cargos. If the Scorpion could find out how the pirates set their traps, if they could anticipate where the pirates would be and be there waiting for them, then they might have a chance.

  But how were they to find out how the pirates operated?

  "You're awfully quiet, captain." Whitey's voice interrupted his thoughts.

  "Just thinking, Whitey," he replied absently.

  "You aren't blaming yourself for what happened, are you? Heck, we all had a part in it. If we made a mistake, we're all at fault."

  "That's right." Puck's voice chimed in. "You didn't even do any shooting. Egor and I were the ones who jumped the gun."

  "At my command," Tambu said pointedly. "Just as we moved in on the ships at my command."

  "But like Whitey said," Puck insisted, "we all had a part in it-the planning and the execution!"

  "Ships aren't run by committee," Tambu reminded him. "That's why you made me captain. Besides getting the lion's share of the glory and profits when we do well and having last say on policy, being captain means that I hold the bag if things go wrong. It goes with the job. Isn't that right, Whitey? You were the one smart enough to dodge the captain's post. Wasn't avoiding responsibility one of your main reasons? Then don't lecture me about how I shouldn't feel responsible."

  "I've got an answer to that," Whitey answered. "It's called the Nuremberg trials. The weight of responsibility falls on everyone in the chain of command, not just the one who gives the orders. If we were wrong, if we just shot up a commercial ship instead of a pirate, then we're pirates-all of us. If they catch us, they'll hang all of us, not just you, captain."

  "Touch‚!" Tambu laughed. But I wish you didn't have to be quite so morbid with your example."

  "Not to change the subject, captain, but can we afford to get a few more viewscreens installed?" Whitey asked. Then we can keep one thing on the main screen and still have a couple of little ones for talking to each other. I don't know about you, but I like to see people when I'm talking to them. Otherwise I can't always tell if they're serious or joking."

  "That will depend on what those two ships have on board," Tambu answered. "Whether we're pirate or pirate hunter, I figure we have salvage rights on both vessels."

  "There should be a bundle after we sell the ships," Puck declared.

  "We'll see," Tambu said.

  "What do you mean, 'We'll see'?" Whitey asked, her voice suddenly sharp. "We are going to sell the ships, aren't we?"

  "Egor to Tambu. Do you read me?"

  Egor's voice blared suddenly over the console speaker, cutting off their discussion.

  "This is Tambu. Go ahead."

  "We're in the clear, captain. This is a pirate ship, all right."

  Relief washed over Tambu like a cool wave, freeing his mind of its slowly building tensions.

  "The ship's name is the Mongoose," Egor continued.

  "It inflicted the damage on the other ship. That one's called the Infidel."

  "Wait a minute," Tambu interrupted. "What is the source of your information? How do you know the Mongoose is a pirate ship?"

  "I've got a survivor here. Found him hiding in the corridor. He's more than a little hysterical. Keeps babbling that he doesn't want to be hanged. Claims he'll tell us anything or do anything if we don't turn him over to the authorities."

  Tambu leaned forward with a new eagerness. The survivor might be able to supply them with the answers to some of the questions they had on how pirates operated.

  "Is he the only survivor?" he asked.

  "He's the only one on this ship. There were three others who bought it when we chewed 'em up with our slicers. But you ready for this? There are six more on board the Infidel."

  "What?" Tambu was unable to contain his surprise.

  "That's right. A bunch of the crew took a shuttle over to check the Infidel's cargo just before we showed up. One of them is the Mongoose's captain."

  Tambu paused to think. On the one hand, the captured pirates could supply them with much-needed information. On the other hand, they outnumbered the Scorpion's crew seven to four. That could be trouble--particularly if they still had their captain to lead them.

  "Do you want me to take the shuttle over and check 'em out?" Egor asked, breaking the silence.

  "No! Stay where you are for now. I need you there to make sure none of them try to sneak back on board."

  Actually, Tambu was afraid the pirates would overpower Egor if he tried to board the Infidel, but he didn't want to say that. Egor was so proud of his brawling abilities that he might just take it as a challenge and try it on his own.

  "Do you have any way of communicating with the boarding party?" Tambu asked.

  "Just a second-I'll check."

  There was a brief silence, then Egor spoke again.

  "They're using hand communicators, same as us. They're on a different frequency though. I can hold mine next to theirs if you want to talk to them direct."

  "Just relay this message to their captain. Tell him to take their shuttle to our ship-alone. I want to talk to him. Let me know when you get confirmation."

  Staring at the ships on the viewscreen, Tambu set aside the hailing microphone he had been using to communicate with Egor, then leaned forward to use the ship's intercom speaker.

  "Okay, you've heard the plan," he said. "Now here's what I want you to do. Puck, you swing your guns round to cover the Infidel. Whitey, stay with the maneuvering controls, but be ready to take over Egor's battery if anything happens with the Mongoose. The guns should be set already, but check 'em out just to be sure. I want them set so that all you have to do is hit the firing button. I'll go down to the shuttle docking port to deal with the prisoner. Call me on the intercom if anything strange starts to happen. Any questions?"

  "Just the one I asked before," Whitey drawled. "I'm still waiting for an answer."

  "I'm sorry-I've forgotten the question." Tambu admitted.

  "The question was if we were going to sell the two ships, and if not, why?" Whitey prompted.

  "We'll discuss it after I've talked to the Mongoose's captain."

  "What's to discuss?" Whitey argued. "What would we do with three ships?"

  "We could cover three times as much space, or have one very powerful strike force," Tambu snapped back.

  "I should think you'd like that, Whitey. It would mean less fighting and fewer casualties on both sides."

  "How do you figure that?"

  "If you were running a ship and three heavily armed ships overhauled you and demanded you stand by to be boarded and inspected, would you do it? Or would you try to fight?"

  "I see what you mean," Whitey admitted. "I sure wouldn't try to fight three ships. But where would we get crews for the other two ships?"

  "That's what I want to talk to the captain of the Mongoose about," Tambu confided.

  "You're thinking of hiring them?" Whitey was incredulous. "But they're pirates!"

  "Egor to Tambu. Do you read me?"

  "Go ahead Egor."

  "I've got confirmation for you. The Mongoose's captain is on her way over."

  Tambu's eyes jumped to the viewscreen. The shuttle-craft was clearly in sight, steering a straight course for the Scorpion. Then something that Egor had said registered in his mind.

  "Egor! Did you say 'her way'?"

  "That's right, my friend. It seems your counterpart is female. Young, too, from the sound of her voice. Her name's Ramona. Have fun with your interview."

  Tambu grimaced at the leer in Egor's voice, but nonetheless paused to check his appearance in a mirror before heading for the docking hangar.

  The
captain of the Mongoose was not beautiful, but neither was she repulsive-or even homely. She was small, barely five feet in height, and stocky without really being overweight. A shock of long auburn hair was pulled back into a pony-tail which descended past her waist, combining with her round face to give her an almost schoolgirl appearance.

  "Have a seat, Ramona," Tambu said. "We have a lot to talk about."

  The girl sank loosely into a chair, casually dangling one leg over its arm.

  "You'll forgive my appearance. I was planning to inspect a cargo, not meeting and impressing new people."

  She was wearing a form-fitting T-shirt, dark green with a unicorn on it. Her pants were black denim with button-flap pockets on the thighs, and her boots were ankle-high and soft-soled. She was indeed more appropriately dressed for a work crew than for receiving visitors.

  "Your appearance does not concern me," Tambu said. "Nor do I find it unpleasant. I do, however, have several questions for you."

  "First, I have a question for you," the girl countered. "What do you intend to do with me and my crew?"

  "What is usually done with pirates caught in the very act of committing their crimes?" Tambu asked blandly.

  "Usually they are turned over to the authorities on the nearest inhabited planet where they are hanged or shot, with or without trial. Occasionally, they are put to death by the ship which captures them." Ramona's eyes met Tambu's squarely. "I might also add that if your plans for us follow those expected patterns, I see no reason why we should answer your questions or cooperate with you in any way."

  "And if our plans were to let you go?"

  The girl's posture straightened as her air of studied indifference fell away.

  "You'd do that? You'd let us take our ship and go?"

  "In exchange for information, we'll let you and the crew go. But not the ship. You'll be dropped planetside with no reference to the authorities as to the nature of your business."

  "How do I know you aren't lying?" Ramona scowled.

  "What's to keep you from getting the information you want, then turning us in anyway?"

  "You have no guarantees. You'll just have to trust me. I might point out, however, that if I were lying, I could afford to be a lot more generous with my promises. I could promise you your crew and your ship. Instead, I'm being honest. The deal is for your lives-not your ship."

  "I guess that makes a certain amount of sense."

  "You aren't really in much of a bargaining position," Tambu reminded her.

  "Let me ask just one more question. If you give me an honest answer to this one, I'll cooperate."

  "What's the question?"

  Ramona leaned forward, her expression suddenly fierce. "Who double-crossed us?" she demanded. "Was it someone in my crew?"

  "No one double-crossed you. At least, to the best of my knowledge."

  "Don't give me that." the girl snapped. "I know the Infidel didn't get a distress call out. That means someone had to tip you about when and where we were going to make our intercept. Otherwise, how did you find us?"

  "Blind luck. We had no inside information. In fact, we had no information at all other than the news reports of heavy pirate activity in this region."

  "But if you weren't specifically looking for us, how did you know we were pirates?" Ramona challenged.

  "We didn't." Tambu smiled. "We had our suspicions as we approached the ships, but that was all. We fired in self-defense when the Mongoose turned her guns on us. It wasn't until the surviving crewman confessed that we knew for sure, and even that was uncertain until you confirmed it with your attitude during our interview here."

  Ramona was wide-eyed now.

  "But-if that's true-" she stammered.

  "... You could have bluffed your way out." Tambu finished the thought for her. "It's a little late for that now, don't you think?"

  The girl stared wordlessly for a few moments, then threw back her head and laughed.

  "Ramona, the crafty pirate," she declared, shaking her head. "Trapped by blind luck and her own big mouth. Forgive me, but if I don't laugh, I might start crying."

  Tambu smiled at her. "Now that you're fully aware of the situation, perhaps you will realize why I'm willing to bargain the way I have. Our aim is to be pirate hunters-sort of a cross between bounty hunters and a police force. It's obvious to me now that we can't simply rely on luck to find our prey. We need to know how pirates think... how they operate. That's where you come in. For example, you've implied that you knew in advance where to intercept the Infidel. How did you get that information?"

  Ramona blinked, then grimaced slightly.

  "You really listen close, don't you? Well, on this particular venture, our information came from inside sources."

  "Inside sources?" Tambu frowned.

  "That's right. I'll tell you my honest opinion. If you're planning to make a living at this, you've got your work cut out for you. The name of the game is information, and it can take years to build up an effective network. How you're going to get informants who will inform on other informants is beyond me."

  "Back up a little," Tambu said thoughtfully. "Who are these informants that make up a network?"

  "Almost anyone who has information about shipments and an eye for easy money. When I say 'inside sources,' I'm talking about people within the corporate structure of the outfit shipping the cargo out. It could be a shipping clerk, an accountant, or a secretary. Sometimes the information comes directly from upper management when they want to cash in on a little insurance money."

  "So you get your information from the shippers themselves?" Tambu asked.

  "Some of it," Ramona corrected. "Sometimes it comes from corporations out to sabotage a rival's shipments. People working at the spaceports themselves are good sources. We even get tips from receiving merchants and corporations who don't want to pay the full price of a shipment."

  "I see," Tambu said, pursing his lips. "It sounds as if you have a lot more information than I imagined."

  "And you aren't about to let us go until you've pumped it all out of me. Right?" Ramona scowled.

  "Actually, I was thinking along different lines. How would you like to come to work for me?"

  She held his gaze for a moment, then turned away.

  "If you insist," she said flatly. "But you drive a hard bargain. It's extortion, but I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"

  "Of course you have a choice!" Tambu thundered, slapping his hand down on the desk hard enough to make it jump with the impact.

  Ramona started, taken aback at this sudden display of temper, but Tambu recovered his composure quickly. He rose and began to pace about the room.

  "Forgive me," he muttered. "I suppose you have every right to think the way you are. It serves me right for trying to be so cagey instead of laying my cards on the table from the first."

  He stopped pacing and perched on the edge of his desk facing her.

  "Look," he said carefully, "it's been my intent all along to offer you and your crew positions in my force. I need experienced people-particularly people with experience in space combat-to man my ships. What I don't need are a bunch of sullen animals who think they were blackmailed into serving and who will jump ship or turn on me at the first opportunity. That's why I was saying I'd let you go instead of turning you over to the authorities. If you or any of your crew want to sign on, fine. If not, we'll let them go. Now do we understand each other?"

  Again their eyes met. This time Ramona's expression was thoughtful, rather than guarded.

  "I'll talk to my crew," she said at last. "For my part, though, the main hesitation isn't money... it's position. I worked a long time to get where I am, captaining my own ship. In all honesty, I'm not sure how content I'd be working under someone else again. Still, if you let me go, I'll probably end up crewing again for a while. I just don't know. I'll have to think about it."

  "What if I offered you a position as captain of your own ship?" Tambu asked.

 
; Hope flashed across the girl's face for a moment.

  "I don't want to sound suspicious again," she said carefully, "but that sounds a little too good to be true. You capture a pirate ship and crew, then offer to turn them loose again intact? What's to keep us from going back to business as normal as soon as you turn your back?"

  "For one thing, your crew would probably be divided up among the available ships under various commanders. For another, we'll probably be operating as a fleet for a while, which would tend to discourage independent action. There is also the minor detail that I plan to be on board your ship."

  "That sounds to me like I'd be captain in title only."

  "Not at all," Tambu assured her. "It's my plan that the captains under my command have complete autonomy on their ships, providing, of course, that they stay within the general guidelines I set forth for them. I envision my own position to be more of an overall coordinator for the entire force. I suspect that if all goes well, that will occupy my time to a point where I will have neither the time nor the inclination to bother with the operational details of a single ship-including the one I'm on."

  He uncoiled from his perch and seated himself at his desk once more.

  "My decision to travel on board your ship is to enable myself to more readily obtain specific information from you rather than to imply any distrust. That is actually the answer I should have given you in the first place. I'll have to trust you, as I'll have to trust all my captains. If I don't, the force hasn't a hope of success."

  Now it was Ramona's turn to rise and pace as she thought.

  "Just how large a fleet are you envisioning?" "I have no exact figure in mind," Tambu admitted, "but I expect we will grow well beyond the three ships we have currently."

  "My crew isn't big enough to man even these three ships," she pointed out.

  "I know. We'll have to do some additional recruiting. I'll want your advice on that, too."

  "Aren't you risking trouble using ex-pirates for crew? I don't mean with mutiny, I'm thinking more about your reputation."

  "My crew might object a bit, at first, but they'll accept it. If not, they can be replaced."