Saul wreaked havoc on the landscape. Grimes, watching on his screen, thought, relishing the play on words, He's wrecking the landscape. What had been grassland was now a crater-pitted desolation over which drifted acrid fumes, and the copses had been reduced to jagged, blackened stumps.
Kane came on the air. His voice, despite the fact that it had been relayed through at least two stations, was loud and clear. He said, "Commander Grimes, this is Captain Kane. My mate tells me that your first lieutenant's runnin' amok."
"Running amok, Captain Kane? What do you mean?"
"He's shootin' off his guns—your guns—like a madman. Wastin' the taxpayer's money. He's interferin' with the embarkation of my passengers."
"Passengers, Captain Kane?"
"Yeah. Passengers. I own me own ship, an' if I decide to go into the passenger trade, that's my business."
"I'm sure it is, Captain. I'm sorry that my arrangements clashed with yours, but we were due for a practice shoot . . . ."
"Oh, you were, were you? An' did you promulgate a warnin'?"
"Unfortunately the facilities for so doing don't exist on this planet."
"Listen, Grimes, keep your nose out of my business or you'll get it bloodied."
"I'm inclined to think, Kane, that your business is my business. I represent the Federation . . . ."
"An' the Federation is supposed to encourage honest trade, not interfere with it."
"Honest trade?"
"You heard me. Honest and legal."
"All right, Kane. I have your word for it—for what it's worth. Where are you taking those women?"
"It's no concern of yours, Grimes. But it's only natural that after generations of isolation they'll want to see new worlds."
"Mphm. And how are they paying their fares? You never impressed me as being a philanthropic institution."
Kane laughed. "Have you never heard of Travel Now, Pay Later? TG Clippers do a lot of business that way, an' so does Cluster Lines."
"But these people don't have money."
"There're more important things in life than money—not that I can think of any right now."
Grimes realized that he was being talked into a corner. He said firmly, "I have to know where you intend taking your . . . er . . . passengers."
"I've already told you that it's none of your business."
"Would it be . . . Essen?"
"I'm not sayin' that is is—but what if it is Essen?"
"All right, Captain Kane. If you don't mind, I'll just assume that it is Essen. There'd be a good market there for women, wouldn't there? And Federation law definitely prohibits any kind of traffic in human beings."
"Yeah. It does. I know the law as well as you do, Commander. Probably better. An' I'm tellin' you flat that I'm breakin' no laws. So I'll be greatly obliged if you'll tell your Jimmy The One to get out of my mate's hair."
"I'm sorry, Captain Kane, but I just can't take your word for it."
"No, you wouldn't, would you? We couldn't have a spick-an'-span Survey Service commander takin' the word of Drongo Kane, a poor, honest workin' stiff, master of a scruffy little star tramp, could we? Oh, no. But I'll tell you this. One of your own officers, that Commander Maggie Lazenby, is in Janine's palace now, an' that stuffed shirt Danzellan is with her. Janine's lettin' 'em look at the secret records, the ones that she showed me. I'm not kiddin' you, Grimes. She'll tell you that you can't touch me."
"That remains to be seen, Captain Kane."
"Why don't you call her now?"
"Why not?" agreed Grimes tiredly. He got on to Timmins, ordered him to arrange a hookup. After a few minutes Maggie's voice came through the speaker of the pinnace's transceiver.
"Commander Lazenby here, Seeker."
"Stand by, please, Commander Lazenby. I'm putting you through to the captain."
"Captain here," said Grimes.
"Yes, John?"
"I've been talking with Captain Kane . . . ."
"Yes. I know. He's just come into the Records Room."
"He assures me that whatever he's doing is quite legal, and that you'll bear him out."
"Yes, but . . . I've just unearthed some very old records . . . . And from what Captain Danzellan tells me . . .
"She says yes," put in Kane. "An' until the law is changed, if it ever is . . . ."
"I said yes, but . . ." insisted Maggie.
"And if Tabitha is not lying . . ." contributed Danzellan.
"She said yes!" snapped Kane, his customary drawl forgotten.
"Maggie!" said Grimes forcibly. "Report, at once, in detail what you have discovered."
But there was no report. Kane used his wrist transceiver to jam the signals from those worn by Maggie and Danzellan, and before either or both of them could take any action the far more powerful transceiver of Kane's pinnace blocked all further transmissions from Ballarat.