"Your piracy?" I said.
"Yes. I am outlawed. I might be reinstated if you would speak the good words for me."
"Maybe."
"Maybe even they would reward me. You think so, Gregg Haljan?"
He wanted to be on the winning side; this suited us. "Let's try it and see, Molo. I'll speak plenty of good words for you."
Now, as we landed on the uplands, he said, "You will do best to free my hands."
"Oh, no!" Snap declared.
"But I am a good fighter. Something unexpected might come."
"Too good a fighter," I said. "We trust you because we have to, Molo, but no more than is necessary."
A small recess in the rocks was near us. We put Molo there, with his hands bound, and with Anita and Venza to guard him. Venza held the electronic gun; she knew how to fire it. The girls crouched in a depression about twenty feet away. They could see Molo plainly; if he moved, a flash of the gun would kill him. He knew that.