"Hey, Loring!" yelled Mason, entering the cafe. He carried two s.p.a.ceman"s traveling bags, small black plastic containers with gla.s.s zippers.
"So you"ve got Al Mason in with you," mused Shinny. "Pretty good man, Al. Let"s see now, I saw you two just before you blasted off for Tara!"
He paused. "Couldn"t be that you"ve got anything lined up in deep s.p.a.ce, now could it?"
"You"re an old fool!" snarled Loring.
"Heh--heh--heh," chuckled Shinny. A toothless smile spread across his wrinkled face. "Coming close, am I?"
Al Mason looked at Shinny and back at Loring. "Say! What is this?" he demanded.
"O.K., O.K.," said Loring between clenched teeth. "So we"ve got a strike out in the deep, but one word outta line from you and I"ll blast you with my heater!"
"Not a word," said Shinny, "not a word. I"ll only charge you a little to keep your secret."
Mason looked at Loring. "How much?" he demanded.
"A twentieth of the take," said Shinny. "And that"s dirt cheap."
"It"s robbery," said Loring, "but O.K. We"ve got no choice!"
"Loring, wait a minute!" objected Mason. "One twentieth! Why, that could add up to a million credits!"
Shinny"s eyes opened wide. "Twenty million! Hey, there hasn"t been a uranium strike that big since the old seventeenth moon of Jupiter back in 2294!"
Loring motioned to them to sit down at a table. He ordered a bottle of rocket juice and filled three gla.s.ses.
"This ain"t uranium, _Mr._ Shinny!" he said.
Shinny"s eyes opened wider still. "What then?"
"What"s the most precious metal in the system today?" Loring asked.
"Why--gold, I guess."
"Next to gold?"
Shinny thought for a moment. "Couldn"t be silver any more, since they"re making the artificial stuff cheaper"n it costs to mine it." The little man"s jaw dropped and he stared at Loring. "You mean--?"
"That"s right," said Loring, "copper!"
Shinny"s mind raced. In this year of 2353, all major copper deposits had long since been exhausted and only small new deposits were being found, not nearly enough for the needs of the expanding system. In an age of electronics, lack of copper had become a serious bottleneck in the production of electrical and scientific equipment. Search parties were out constantly, all over the solar system, trying to find more of the precious stuff. So a deposit of the kind Loring and Mason were talking about was a prize indeed.
Shinny"s greedy fingers twitched with antic.i.p.ation.
"So that"s why you want to buy a s.p.a.ceship, eh?"
"Wanted," replied Loring. "I don"t want to buy one now. The way things look, we"ll get what we want for nothing!"
Mason, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly jumped up. "So that"s your angle! Well, I don"t want any part of it," he shouted.
Loring and Shinny looked up in surprise.
"What"re you talking about?" demanded Loring.
"All of a sudden it"s come to me. Now I know why you"ve been hanging around the s.p.a.ceport for the last two weeks. And what you meant when you saw the s.p.a.ceman get out of that freighter today!"
"Sit down!" barked Loring. "If you weren"t so dumb, you"d have caught on long ago." He eyed the shorter man from between half-closed lids. "It"s the only way we can get out of here!"
"Not me. I ain"t pulling anything like that!" whined Mason.
"What"s going on here?" demanded Shinny. "What"re you two s.p.a.ce b.u.ms talking about?"
"I"ll tell you what! He"s going to try--"
Loring suddenly stood up and slapped the shorter s.p.a.ceman across the mouth. Mason sat down, a dazed look on his face.
"You s.p.a.ce-crawling rat!" hissed Loring. "You"ll do what I tell you to do, see?"
"Yeah--yeah, sure," bleated Mason. "O.K. Anything you say. Anything."
"What is this?" demanded Shinny.
"You shut up!" growled Loring.
"I won"t!" said Shinny, as he also rose from the table. "You may be tough, Billy Loring, but not as tough as me!"
The two men stared at each other for a moment. Finally Loring smiled and patted Mason"s shoulder. "Sorry, Al. I guess I got a little hot for a moment."
"Quit talking riddles," pleaded Shinny. "What"s this all about?"
"Sit down," said Loring.
They sank back into their chairs.
"It"s simple," said Mason fearfully. "Loring wants to steal a s.p.a.ceship."
"A pirate job!" said Shinny. He drew in his breath sharply. "You must be outta your mind!"
"You"ve called yourself in on this," Loring reminded him. "And you"re staying in."
"Oh, no!" Shinny"s voice dropped to a husky, frightened whisper. "Deal"s off. I ain"t gonna spend the rest of my life on a prison asteroid!"
"Shinny, you know too much!" Loring"s hand darted toward the blaster he wore at his belt.
"Your secret"s safe with me. I give you my s.p.a.ceman"s word on it," said Shinny, pushing back his chair. Abruptly getting to his feet, he scrambled rapidly out the door of the Cafe Cosmos.
"Loring," said Mason, "get him. You can"t let him ..."
"Forget it," shot back the other. "He won"t break his s.p.a.ceman"s oath.