The Other Side of Nowhere

"Good, so far," admitted Braden.

"Mr. Duckworth is becoming impatient." The star of the picture-to-be looked severe. "And I am not satisfied at being delayed like this! There are scenes to be shot before we reach Handel's Planet! You will tell the captain that if he does not take back his ridiculous order..."

Braden blinked.

"You mean, about all of you remaining in your quarters?"

"What else?" she asked with annoyance. "No other ship on any good space-line would treat me - me! - so stupidly!"

Diane shook her head at Braden. Fortescue said quickly, and smoothly:

"We've explained to Miss Carmody that you are working on the captain, to persuade him to change his orders."

Braden blinked again. He'd been concerned with deadly realities. This absorption in taking pictures of imaginary events seemed startlingly unreal. Of course he'd assumed that since his cabin as well as the skipper's and the control-room were wired for tapping, there would be great care about what was said. But he hadn't realized that Derr Carmody couldn't be trusted to grasp a situation. She'd play it dramatically, instead.

"You will tell the captain," said the star imperiously, "that I will not submit to this any longer! I am bored! My art demands that I work! I have instructed Mr. Duckworth to ignore the captain's orders if they are not changed immediately!"

Braden drew a deep breath. Things were in a very bad state, and the lid was about to blow off. But the skipper had prepared for something just like this. He'd planned it for years. He had some trap contrived. To make this known before the trap closed could be catastrophic.

"I'll tell you," said Braden. "Let me look at the cameras and lights. If they won't block a corridor that must be kept open, maybe I can persuade him."

"I'll show you," said Diane quickly. "They're in here."

She led the way into one of the cabins. He put his lips close to her ear and whispered:

"Something's about to break! The coffee is doctored! Maybe some of the other food, but the coffee is, without question!"

She went white. Then she said, her voice astonishingly naturaclass="underline"

"These are the lights, Mt. Braden. You can read off the wattage on them."

She put her finger to her lips and pointed to a spot behind the doorframe. There was something very tiny there. It could have been taken for a hardened drop of paint. She pointed again, and he saw twin raised lines where thread-thin wires had been painted over; they would never have been seen if they hadn't been searched for very, very carefully.

Braden took her hand and pressed it. Aloud he said:

"This stuff isn't bulky. It shouldn't block a corridor. I'll talk to the skipper. I can promise nothing, of course." Then he whispered: "That coffee mustn't be drunk! Nor the food eaten!"

She nodded, watching his face. He showed her the butt of his blaster and looked a question. She nodded, very pale. They went back to the saloon.

"I'll speak to the skipper," Braden said politely.

"Tell him," said Derr Carmody imperially, "that if he does not change his orders I will defy them!"

He went to the door. Diane followed him. Braden was sweating. Outside, he said hurriedly:

"The skipper's determined for some reason. But I don't like it!" Then he added furiously, "The woman's a fool!"

Diane smiled faintly.

"She's my mother. And I'm a cameraman because she wouldn't want to have to compete with her daughter as an actress."

"I'll apologize later," he told her bitterly. "But now I'm trying to keep things lined up for whatever the skipper has planned. Keep watch! And stay armed!"

"We will," she said steadily. "Some of us, anyhow."

He went away. When he looked back, she was still standing in the doorway, watching him. He motioned for her to go inside. She smiled rather shakily and obeyed.

He trudged up toward the bow of the ship again. There would be a pause now. He could see it very clearly. On the Melpomene there'd been fighting, and one of the pirates - or mutineers - had been killed. There'd be no such risk, this time. A meal had been served simultaneously in the control-room, and in Braden's cabin, and to the passengers. The mutineers would be waiting, now, for the hidden microphones to tell them when only they remained conscious on the ship. As long as there was any movement they would make no motion. So he could make his way safely back to the skipper, to get his orders for action consistent with the skipper's plans.

He was deeply disturbed because he was neither with Diane, to take part in defending her, nor acting in combination with the skipper. Had Braden been in the skipper's place, he wouldn't have let matters go this far. Days ago he'd have called the steward into the control-room and taken him prisoner, bound and gagged him. He'd have called the other crewmen in, one by one, in the hope of breaking the mutiny by taking action first. Prisoners could be put in an air lock, with food shoved in to them from time to time; and the ship could be run by just the skipper and himself to the next checkpoint or even to Handel's Planet, where help could be provided by space-boat from the colony itself.

That would have been Braden's answer to the threat, but it would not have satisfied the skipper. Planetary laws were elaborate. Accused criminals were always considered innocent unless proven guilty, and there was no way to prove these men guilty. There were no witnesses against them from the Melpomene, because all of them had been killed. Therefore, if the six men were turned over to the law, they would probably be freed.