"To hell with you—"
"All you have to do is come out of the turret, with your hands up. You'll be treated—like the passengers. Fair treatment, I do assure you."
"I'll have all you pirates in the detention pen before this is ended," Mackensie roared.
"All we want is your surrender. And to have you tell us where you've hidden that little leaden cylinder."
"By Heaven, you'll never find it. Dead or alive."
"Dead, if you say so," Torio's voice snapped. And then his irony returned. "We'll give you five minutes to decide."
"I want nothing from you. By the gods, I'm still Master here!"
"Empty title, Captain."
"I'm steering us back to Earth," the captain rasped. "The Interplanetary Patrol is coming for us."
That made the Venus man chuckle. "If only it were. But it isn't."