Norman was pushed into the group of men. His eyes, though, kept searching for Jennifer. With a sigh of relief, he discovered her at the same time she found him. She waved rather forlornly, and Norman almost dislocated his shoulder waving back.
The fat man said, "Pirates! The effrontery of those rogues. When the Terrestial Navy locates their lair, they'll blast them to atoms."
Norman recognized Dr. Pequod at his elbow. The doctor was clad nattily in the hair on his chest and a flaming pair of shorts.
"It's not so simple as that," the doctor answered the fat man. "You fail to realize the size of the Universe. Nine tenths of it remains unexplored, unmapped. And how will the Terrestial Navy trail an invisible enemy?"
The fat man blew himself up, said, "The resources of the Empire are unlimited."
"Sounds good," agreed the doctor; "but the Empire these days is living on its reputation."
A crowd of the frightened passengers were gathered about the two men.
"And I've a notion," the doctor went on, "that this is more than piracy. The Empire is crumbling. Some faction may be nibbling at its edges, growing strong from its life blood, the trading lines. Has it occurred to you that with every ship lost, the pirates are that much stronger and we that much weaker!"
"Nonsense," retorted the fat man, but his tone had lost conviction.
"Break it up," commanded one of their guards. "Silence!"