Pirates of Venus

restoring order; but Gamfor was frankly dubious concerning the feasibility of the project.

'The men are not interested in the welfare of Vepajans,' he reminded us, 'and they may resent the idea of endangering their lives and risking their new-found liberty in a venture that means nothing whatever to them.'

'How do you feel about it, personally?' I asked him.

'I am under your orders,' he replied; 'I will do anything that you command, but I am only one—you have two hundred whose wishes you must consult.'

'I shall consult only my officers,' I replied; 'to the others, I shall issue orders.'

'That is the only way,' said Kamlot in a tone of relief.

'Inform the other officers that we shall attack the Sovong at daybreak,' I instructed them.

'But we dare not fire on her,' protested Kamlot, 'lest we endanger the life of Duare.'

'I intend boarding her,' I replied. 'There will be no one but the watch on deck at that hour. On two other occasions the ships have been brought close together on a calm sea; so our approach will arouse no suspicion. The boarding party will consist of a hundred men who will remain concealed until the command to board is given when the ships are alongside one another. At that hour in the morning the sea is usually calm; if it is not calm tomorrow morning we shall have to postpone the attack until another morning.

'Issue strict orders that there is to be no slaughter; no one is to be killed who does not resist. We shall remove all of the Sovong's small arms and the bulk of her provisions, as well as the Vepajan prisoners, to the Sofal .'

'And then what do you propose doing?' asked Gamfor.

'I am coming to that,' I replied, 'but first I wish to ascertain the temper of the men aboard the Sofal . You and Kamlot will inform the other officers of my plans insofar as I have explained them; then assemble the original members of the Soldiers of Liberty and explain my intentions to them. When this has been done, instruct them to disseminate the information among the remainder of the ship's company, reporting to you the names of all those who do not receive the plan with favor. These we shall leave aboard the Sovong with any others who may elect to transfer to her. At the eleventh hour muster the men on the main deck. At that time I will explain my plans in detail.'

After Kamlot and Gamfor had departed to carry out my orders, I returned to the chart room. The Sofal , moving ahead at increased speed, was slowly overhauling the Sovong , though not at a rate that might suggest pursuit. I was certain that the Sovong knew nothing of what had transpired upon her sister ship, for the Amtorians are unacquainted with wireless communication, and there had been no time for the officers of the Sofal to signal their fellows aboard the Sovong , so suddenly had the mutiny broken and so quickly had it been carried to a conclusion.

As the eleventh hour approached, I noticed little groups of men congregated in different parts of the ship, evidently discussing the information that the Soldiers of Liberty had spread among them. One group, larger than the others, was being violently harangued by a loud-mouthed orator whom I recognized as Kodj. It had been apparent from the first that the fellow was a trouble maker. Just how much influence he had, I did not know; but I felt that whatever it was, it would be used against me. I hoped to be rid of him after we had taken the Sovong .

The men congregated rapidly as the trumpeter sounded the hour, and I came down the companionway to address them. I stood just above them, on one of the lower steps, where I could overlook them and be seen by all. Most of them were quiet and appeared attentive. There was one small group muttering and whispering—Kodj was its center.

'At daybreak we shall board and take the Sovong ,' I commenced. 'You will receive your orders from your immediate officers, but I wish to emphasize one in particular—there is to be no unnecessary killing. After we have taken the ship we shall transfer to the Sofal such provisions, weapons, and prisoners as we wish to take with us. At this time, also, we shall transfer from the Sofal to the Sovong all of you who do not wish to remain on this ship under my command, as well as those whom I do not care to take with me,' and as I said this, I looked straight at Kodj and the malcontents surrounding him.

'I shall explain what I have in mind for the future, so that each of you may be able to determine between now and daybreak whether he cares to become a member of my company. Those who do will be required to obey orders but they will share in the profits of the cruise, if there are profits. The purposes of the expedition are twofold: To prey on Thorist shipping and to explore the unknown portions of Amtor after we have returned the Vepajan prisoners to their own country.

'There will be excitement and adventure; there will be danger, too; and I want no cowards along, nor any trouble makers. There should be profits, for I am assured that richly laden Thorist ships constantly ply the known seas of Amtor; and I am informed that we can always find a ready market for such spoils of war as fall into our hands—and war it shall be, with the Soldiers of Liberty fighting the oppression and tyranny of Thorism.

'Return to your quarters now, and be prepared to give a good account of yourselves at daybreak.'

Chapter 11—Duare

I GOT little sleep that night. My officers were constantly coming to me with reports. From these I learned, what was of the greatest importance to me, the temper of the crew. None was averse to taking the Sovong , but there was a divergence of opinion as to what we should do thereafter. A few wanted to be landed on Thoran soil, so that they could make their way back to their homes; the majority was enthusiastic about plundering merchant ships; the idea of exploring the unknown waters of Amtor filled most of them with fear; some were averse to restoring the Vepajan prisoners to their own country; and there was an active and extremely vocal minority that insisted that the command of the vessel should be placed in the hands of Thorans. In this I could see the hand of Kodj even before they told me that the suggestion had come from the coterie that formed his following.

'But there are fully a hundred,' said Gamfor, 'upon whose loyalty you may depend. These have accepted you as their leader, and they will follow you and obey your commands.'

'Arm these,' I directed, 'and place all others below deck until after we have taken the Sovong . How about the klangan? They took no part in the mutiny. Are they for us or against us?'

Kiron laughed. 'They received no orders one way or the other,' he explained. 'They have no initiative. Unless they are motivated by such primitive instincts as hunger, love, or hate, they do nothing without orders from a superior.'

'And they don't care who their master is,' interjected Zog. 'They serve loyally enough until their master dies, or sells them, or gives them away, or is overthrown; then they transfer the same loyalty to a new master.'

'They have been told that you are their new master,' said Kamlot, 'and they will obey you.'

As there were only five of the birdmen aboard the Sofal , I had not been greatly exercised about their stand; but I was glad to learn that they would not be antagonistic.

At the twentieth hour I ordered the hundred upon whom we could depend assembled and held in the lower deck house, the others having all been confined below earlier in the night, in the accomplishment of which a second mutiny was averted only by the fact that all the men had been previously disarmed except the loyal Soldiers of Liberty.

All during the night we had been gradually gaining upon the unsuspecting Sovong until now we were scarcely a hundred yards astern of her, slightly aport. Across our starboard bow I could see her looming darkly in the mysterious nocturnal glow of the moonless Amtorian night, her lanterns white and colored points of light, her watch dimly visible upon her decks.

Closer and closer the Sofal crept toward her prey. A Soldier of Liberty, who had once been an officer in the Thoran navy, was at the wheel; no one was on deck but the members of the watch; in the lower deck house a hundred men were huddled waiting for the command to board; I stood beside Honan in the