"If you think I did, why don't you go look?"
"I may do that, mister. You know, we can hold this ship on the field for an hour or more if we think it would prove profitable."
I saw Celia waving from the passenger gangway, and the colonizer come sprinting our way.
"It's done!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "Let's have the money."
I reached into my pocket.
The detective laid his hand on my arm. "I said I didn't think this transaction was going through." He turned to the colonizer. "You'd better switch things back to the way they were."
"No," I said, pressing the gun through my coat pocket into the belly of the detective, "don't pay any attention to this character." I crossed over with my other hand and withdrew the money.
"Take this," I said to the colonizer, "and get out of here. Fast as you can!"
He was confused but not on basic things. He took his money and virtually ran.
Ten minutes to nine.