"You don't know," the cruiser answered. "You must take our word for it.
But if you surrender, we have no reason to wish you harm."
Rip remained silent. The seconds ticked past until the commander snapped,
"Quickly! You have no more time."
"Sir," Rip said plaintively, "two of my men do not wish to surrender."
"Shoot them, fool! Are you in command or not?"
Rip grinned. He made his voice whine. "But, sir, it is against the law of
the Federation to shoot men without a trial."
The commander lapsed into his own language, caught himself, then barked,
"You are no longer under Federation law. You are under the Consolidation
of People's Governments. Do you surrender or not? Answer at once, or we
take action anyway. Quick!"
Rip knew he could stall no longer. He said coolly, "If you had brains
in your head instead of high vacuum, you'd know that Planeteers never
surrender. Blast away, you filthy space pirate!"
He jerked the plug loose, hesitated for a second over whether or not to
take the snapper-boat, and decided against it. He wasn't familiar with
Connie controls, and there wasn't time to experiment. He headed for the
cave.
The Connie cruiser lost no time. Its stern tubes flamed, then its
steering tubes.
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