player had been especially badly hurt.
When Amy heard all this she was horrified. All those
poor players killed! They had come all this way, across vast
swathes of space just to die in this horrible accident.
'It must jeopardize your chances of playing th(
Tournament,' TrYr'r was saying, but she hardly heard him
Some of those who had died had almost been her friends.
Then she wondered how much of her experience out then
in the Second Aether had been hallucinatory? She made her
way through to the Doctor and asked him the first chance she
got. He too was mourning the dead, but he reassured her.
'Don't worry,' he said, 'I've known Captain Abberley and
the Bubbly Boys for a very long time. That's the advantage of
travelling via Miggea. They're really all right. Sad as I am, Mi
TrYr'r is correct: it could have been an attempt to sabotage
the team.'
Amy was almost crying, angry. 'Someone would kill all
those people just because of this Tournament?'
'I don't know, Amy.' The Doctor sighed heavily. 'We could
be disqualified if we don't turn up with a full team. And we
have to win that arrer. That's still the most important thing.'
Amy felt obliged to step up. 'I'll help out if you need me.
I was a pretty good fielder during the rehearsals, wasn't
I?' Then she became embarrassed. How could she possibly
be any better than the tried and true players of the Second
Fifteen, let alone the surviving First Fifteen?
He understood and patted her on the shoulder. 'Thanks,
Amy. I'll remember that.'
She felt like biting her tongue.
As she looked up at the dark screen again she could have
sworn that she saw another shadow fall across it. The outline
was familiar. Were they still in the Second Aether? Had she
just spotted a Chaos ship?
And there it was, suddenly clear, filling the screen, turning
gracefully against a star cluster. Seemingly only a few parsecs
away.
'Look!'
They turned, surprised by her emphasis.
'A ship,' she shouted, then dropped her tone. 'Isn't it? I
mean, do they have ships like that in space? It's like an old
galleon! With huge sails and stuff?'
'Oh, dear me,' said the Doctor. 'You're right about it
being a ship, Amy. And I know her master. He's a very old
acquaintance of mine. I was rather hoping he wouldn't find
us. Not in our weakened condition. He's a long way from his
usual hunting grounds. He used to cruise the Rim worlds
at this time of year. Collecting his rents. Looking for prey.
They're closer to home for him. He's fast and he's very, very
dangerous. The IPC have sent whole fleets after him, but he
has his ship and his little galaxy well defended!'
'Little galaxy?' She was bewildered by this. 'Can you have
a little galaxy?'
'Dwarf galaxies. Groups of star systems caught in our
galaxy's gravity. Sort of islands off the coast of the Milky
Way. Remember?'
She was sure he hadn't told her about them, but that was
typical. She suspected him of mixing her up with some other
girl he'd known. At first she had resented his confusion. Now
she understood it better and was more forgiving. She no
longer bothered to correct him.
The others were joining them to stare at the screen. 'What
is it?' W.G. Grace wanted to know. 'It's huge, isn't it. Looks
like an old-time clipper ship, though considerably bigger.
Hard to tell, of course.'
'Oh, she's big.' The Doctor took a deep breath. 'Yeah. And
fast, too. A beauty, isn't she? I remember a time when—' He
caught himself. 'There was an era long ago, when space was
full of them. They called them "starjammers".'
'Can she help us, Doctor?' asked Amy.
'I'm not sure she intends to offer help exactly,' he answered.
'She's the Paine out of the dwarf galaxy Canis. Commanded
by Captain Cornelius. That's what he calls himself. An old
acquaintance of mine. A sort of enemy, you could say. Or a
rival. Depending on the circumstances. He doesn't do a lot
of universe saving, Amy, that's for sure. He must have been
following behind the storm. Waiting. Keeping out of the
way. A dark wind is the last thing he needs. Light's totally
important to him. Still, I doubt he has any plans to attack
us. I bet he wasn't expecting to find the biggest liner in the
galaxy helpless as a newborn baby, just waiting for him to
take her.'
'A prize?' W.G. Grace leaned her bow-case carefully against
a console. 'You make her sound like a pirate, Doctor.'
'That's because she is a pirate. The most infamous and
feared pirate in the galaxy.' The Doctor was grim. 'I've come
up against her in the past. There's only one other ship like
her in the entire pirate brotherhood. Remembered Lombardy.
And I suppose we should be grateful it's not her. Colonel
Gaspard Reynauld would be shooting at us by now.'
He sharpened the picture.
'She's an old Rim clipper. I doubt if there's another living
person in conventional space-time who has seen a ship like
that in the ordinary way of things. Powered by photons. By
the power of suns. By light itself! Built before the colour-
engine was invented and made her obsolete, at least as far as
the major shipbuilders were concerned. Imagine a whole fleet
of them! They were formidable. Oh, yes! I've tangled with
Captain Cornelius more than once. He's known as Ironface,
because of the metal mask he used to wear in battle. A sort of
phantom of the space opera.' He winced at his own joke. 'But
I've never had so much to lose before. Or so many other lives
in immediate danger to think about.'
W.G. clasped her fancy bow-case to her. 'But by definition
she can't travel faster than light. We can. Or could. We can
get away, can't we?'
'You didn't study relative relativity at school, did you
W.G.?' The Doctor was rubbing his face, as if to get circulation
back into it. 'Light travels at many different speeds, depending
on context. We just use the old Einsteinian speed to make
certain calculations, the way we use Earth kilometres or litres
or parsecs. Or Anglo-Saxons used their feet. Same as time.
You know that time moves at different speeds, don't you? If
it didn't, there wouldn't be any space as such. No matter, as
we understand it. Does your enthusiasm for the past, W.G.,
mean that you only went to schools which taught Dark Age
science?'
Grace turned a substantial shade of puce and would not
reply.
The Paine banked again, sweetly, elegantly. These jammers
were the first ships Earth had used for deep-space exploration.
Those great fleets moved before winds of light radiating from
the stars, the way old-time galleons used the wind. At some
point, decades or centuries earlier, the Paine had been built
in space and then towed or boosted up to speed until she
could sail under the power of light
alone. She never stopped
moving, circling planets while her tenders went back and
forth, using the power of galaxies to travel.
Amy wondered if the Paine was really their enemy. After
all, if dark matter spread to dominate the universe, the Paine
would become incapable of movement and drift for ever
in the doldrums of space. But maybe Captain Cornelius
did not care what happened in the future. What if he lived
merely to enjoy the moment and refused to worry about any
consequences? Already Amy was becoming intrigued by a
man she had never seen...
'Oh, thank goodness! You're safe. I looked for you
everywhere and was beginning to think - oh - you know...'
Bingo Lockesley was trembling. He seemed on the verge of
tears. He still wore his emergency suit, splashed with blood.
He was horribly pale.
'Are you all right, Bingo?' Not wanting to hurt him if he
was wounded, she hesitated before hugging him.
He looked down at the blood. 'Gosh, no! Ha, ha. That's
not me. Poor old gent broke his arm, got some cuts from a
ripped inner plate. Medics fixed him up pretty much on the
spot. I've just come from the hospital section. All I got was a
bump on the head. Knocked me out for a few minutes, that's
all. It's the others need our help. A nightmare, what?'
'Old Bingo's been a brick!' Hari joined them, wiping his
hands on a rag.
Flapper was with him. She wore nurse's overalls and her
hair was hidden under a blue hat. 'Glad you're safe,' she
said. 'Some people were actually sucked out through the hull
and into space. Others were seriously injured. They had to
go into the cryogenic bay. We did everything we could do
until the medics had things under control We heard some of
our own people were killed. We thought we'd better come up
here and look for you and met old Bingo on the way. Thank
goodness you're safe. Ah, there's the Doctor. How is he?'
'A bit tired.' Amy was delighted to see them. She was
reminded of the first and second world wars, when the
unlikeliest people suddenly became heroes. 'His steering
saved our lives. He got us out of the storm.' She knew she
would never be able to explain the Second Aether.
'I hear Greeb and Donna bought it, what?' Hari Agincourt
was embarrassed at his show of emotion. 'Jolly bad break.
Somebody said that the whole Second Fifteen were lost. Is
that true?'
'Yes, poor devils.' Bingo kicked at the floor.
'Those two were both ace players, weren't they?' asked
Flapper. 'I mean they're a serious loss. I know it's not good
form to talk about the team's chances at a time like this, but
isn't this going to make it difficult for the Gentlemen?'
'It will a b i t I think the casualties - those who weren't
sucked into space - will be all right, of course, when we get
back to a civilised world. But meanwhile things are a looking
a bit sticky, yes. Miggea's not exactly advanced as far as
medicine's involved. For the sake of Donny and Masher we
can't risk resurrecting them there, can we?'
The Doctor nodded vaguely, studying the banking space-
clipper.
Amy realised that the mood in the control room had
changed. There was a sudden silence. Everyone was now
looking at the screen on which she had seen the sailing ship.
'Big, isn't she?' said Bingo quietly, rubbing his head. He
looked about him for a seat
'Rather!' agreed Hari. He glanced at Flapper. 'You all
right, old thing?'
'She might be here to help.' Flapper shivered and drew
closer to a manly Hari. 'I mean, it's possible, isn't it?'
'I don't think so.' Amy clutched at the 'celestial' necklace
in her pocket, suddenly wishing she too had a manly arm
to gather her in. For reasons obscure to her, she took out
the necklace and put it on. 'That's the Paine. She's a pirate
ship, captained by a villain they call Ironface. Because of his
mask.'
'Oh, Lord!' exclaimed Bingo. 'I've heard of him. I say, Hari,
I think we'd better get our bows and a couple of quivers of
arrows. Stand by to repel boarders and all that.'
The Doctor heard him. 'Not much chance we can chase off
Ironface the way we did General Force. His grapple beams
could crush us like a tin can. And we're already pretty much
in the position of a can someone's trodden on. Half the force
screens are down. Our hull plates were seriously damaged in
the storm. We're a sitting duck for any predator. We can only
hope he doesn't think of us as prey.'
The ship's monstrous black sails bulged as she came about.
Her masts were hundreds of metres high, her sails miles
across. Yet, because the Gargantua was herself such a gigantic
ship, the Paine seemed relatively small in comparison. Apart
from dark brass furnishings, she was all black. Any light not
directly used to sail her was saved in energy converters deep
in her slender hull. She had two colour engines as auxiliaries.
Her gun ports gleamed, showing just a hint of her banned
Mann and Robersons. The energy cannons inflicted worse
than death on any living thing they as much as brushed with
their radiation. They were considered the best armament in
the universe, hugely effective, but nobody had used them
in centuries because of the terrible torture they inflicted.
Nobody died quickly from a Mann and Roberson shot, but
they did, inevitably, die. It was unwise to engage the Paine in
battle. She never lost. And fluttering unostentatiously from
her foretop was a black flag on which a skull and bones had
been embroidered in pure white thread.
The Paine kept close to the Gargantua. She sailed beside the liner but made no threats, took no action, simply continued
to shadow her. Only the Gargantua' s own flickering lights
and the glimmering of faraway stars made the pirate visible.
Passengers and crew crowded to look at her, craning their
necks to follow the masts and get some measure of the size
of her sails.
All was silence.
Finally Captain Snarri wiped his huge mouth and said
wearily, 'Normally we could probably outrun her, but she
can see we've been hurt. I can't engage her because we're a
civilian ship and my first duty is to the passengers. So. I can't
run. I can't fight. I suppose I'm going to have to barter. Pirates
have kidnapped rich passengers in the past and held them
to ransom. Well probably be made to surrender volunteers.
Generally most of them have been returned in one piece.
Ironface might be satisfied with any treasure the passengers
have.' Snarri took a deep breath. His sigh was long and bitter.
'I've had no training for this situation. I am responsible. Yet I
have no idea, Doctor, what to do.'
'Perhaps I can negotiate a way out.' The Doctor put a
comforting hand on Snarri's shoulder. 'Cornelius and I have
crossed swords before. Quite literally on one occasion. In a
coalmine. Near Newcastle. About 191
8. Leopard Men.'
'I can't think of an alternative.' The captain appeared to
sag. He sat down in a chair just as a resonant, ironic voice
came in over their communicators:
'Captain Cornelius of the privateer Paine wishing to
establish contact. Do I have Gargantua' s permission?' At least
he was following the polite protocol of the space lanes.
Captain Snarri pulled himself together, licked dry lips and
said softly: 'Permission granted, captain.'
He signalled to the bots and the busy little machines tuned
the Paine in and trained their V on Captain Snarri. 'Good
evening to you, Captain Cornelius. I am Captain Snarri,
commander of this ship.'
'And to you, Captain Snarri.' Unexpectedly a head, covered
by a tight leather helmet and a simple, white papier mache
Arlecchino mask from the Italian Commedia dell'arte, filled
the screen, as if he had deliberately chosen a less menacing
persona. He wore an undecorated dark blue naval jacket
buttoned to the chin. 'I apologise for the rather melodramatic
hiding of my face. I like to travel and that would be impossible
if anyone recognised me. Might I express my regret at your
misfortune?'
'Let's not resort to hypocrisy, Captain Cornelius. I know
you for a pirate and you know my ship as one of the greatest
passenger liners in the galaxy, protected by intergalactic law.
Which I invoke. Your ship has a duty to rescue mine.' Snarri
could not easily hide his anxiety for his ship and passengers
and was doing the only thing he knew to try to protect
them.
'Put me on now,' murmured the Doctor. At a sign from
the captain the V now showed both men and Amy on the
pirate's screen. 'Good evening, Captain Ironface. We've been
thrashed, I'm afraid. Black storm. We're pretty much out of
commission. I suppose there's no chance of your giving us a
hand?'
For a moment the pirate captain's gaze moved from Snarri,
to the Doctor and lingered a moment on Amy, making her
shiver. Then, letting his attention return to the Doctor, he let
a shadow of a smile cross his face.
'Why, Doctor! What a compliment. But you forget my
calling, surely? I'm a star thief. We wish to board. If you
refuse - well, I'm sure I don't need to make the conventional
threats. We've both seen Mann and Robersons at work.
There's not a survivor of the Rim Wars who hasn't. However,