"Wait a minute," I said. "I know what you want and I know where to get it."
That stopped him. "What do you mean?" he growled.
"I mean a new power slug. I saw how sloppy your jet was when you came in. You haven't got one G-hour left. You might take off from a little rock like this, but you'd never make Venus again and you know it. That's why you're willing to wait around here for six months on the slim chance of being able to shoot down a Patrol cruiser and salvage a slug out of it."
He blinked when I mentioned Venus, but I didn't let him see I noticed it. My mind was beginning to click now. This wasn't the way I would have preferred to handle the matter, but I didn't see anything else to do.
Stony ground his teeth at me. "Well?"
"I know where you can get a new slug just for picking it up."
One of his hands reached out and wrapped around my neck, and he started shaking. "Where is it then!" he gritted. "Out with it!"
"I didn't say I was going to tell you," I reminded him, as soon as I started breathing again. "I'm willing to talk about it, though."
"I'm listening. But talk fast, chum."
"Cut the girl loose, and me too."