“When was Cheese killed?” Tambu demanded. “I don’t recall seeing a report on that.”
“The captain reported it as a suicide, and of course, no one thought to question his word.”
“So you devised this trick to get my attention,” Tambu observed grimly. “When you plan a surprise for the captains, you don’t kid around, do you?”
“We figured since you only listen to the captains, the best way for us to be heard was to come between you and them,” Hairy sneered. “You want to see how your captains’ meeting is going?”
The man leaned forward, reaching for his console’s controls. Immediately the screen changed to display the Scorpion’s meeting room. The captains were sprawled all over the room, some crumpled on the floor, others slumped in their chairs. No one was moving.
“There are your precious captains,” Hairy taunted, reappearing on the screen. “Amazing what a couple of canisters of knockout gas in the vent system can do, isn’t it? All of them, sleeping like babies inside of thirty seconds.”
“You think that by holding the captains hostage, you can force me to let you and your shipmates leave the fleet?” Tambu asked levelly.
“You’ve got us all wrong,” Hairy protested. “We don’t want to leave the fleet. If that was what we wanted, we could have jumped the captain anytime and just sailed away. No, we’ve talked to enough of the other crews to know the Scorpion has been the exception, not the rule in your fleet. We’re willing to stay in the fleet-once we get a few of our differences resolved.”
“Very well,” Tambu sighed. “If you revive the captains and allow them to finish their meetings, I’ll extend immunity to you from reprisals. Furthermore, I’ll give you my promise to personally look into the situation on board the Scorpion at my earliest possible convenience. Agreed?”