“You had better believe me,” said Orne. “We—”
Stetson’s voice interrupted him: “Got it, Orne! They caught the Delphinus on the ground right where you said it’d be! Blew the tubes off it. Marines now mopping up.”
“It’s like this,” said Orne. “We already have recaptured the Delphinus.” Tanub’s eyes went instinctively skyward. “Except for the captured armament you still hold, you obviously don’t have the weapons to meet us,” continued Orne. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be carrying that rifle off the Delphinus.”
“If you speak the truth, then we shall die bravely,” said Tanub.
“No need for you to die,” said Orne.
“Better to die than be slaves,” said Tanub.
“We don’t need slaves,” said Orne. “We—”
“I cannot take the chance that you are lying,” said Tanub. “I must kill you now.”
Orne’s foot rested on the air sled control pedal. He depressed it. Instantly, the sled shot skyward, heavy G’s pressing them down into the seats. The gun in Tanub’s hands was slammed into his lap. He struggled to raise it. To Orne, the weight was still only about twice that of his home planet of Chargon. He reached over, took the rifle, found safety belts, bound Tanub with them. Then he eased off the acceleration.