“I guess that makes a certain amount of sense.”
“You aren’t really in much of a bargaining position,” Tambu reminded her.
“Let me ask just one more question. If you give me an honest answer to this one, I’ll cooperate.”
“What’s the question?”
Ramona leaned forward, her expression suddenly fierce. “Who double-crossed us?” she demanded. “Was it someone in my crew?”
“No one double-crossed you. At least, to the best of my knowledge.”
“Don’t give me that.” the girl snapped. “I know the Infidel didn’t get a distress call out. That means someone had to tip you about when and where we were going to make our intercept. Otherwise, how did you find us?”
“Blind luck. We had no inside information. In fact, we had no information at all other than the news reports of heavy pirate activity in this region.”
“But if you weren’t specifically looking for us, how did you know we were pirates?” Ramona challenged.
“We didn’t.” Tambu smiled. “We had our suspicions as we approached the ships, but that was all. We fired in self-defense when the Mongoose turned her guns on us. It wasn’t until the surviving crewman confessed that we knew for sure, and even that was uncertain until you confirmed it with your attitude during our interview here.”
Ramona was wide-eyed now.
“But-if that’s true-” she stammered.
“… You could have bluffed your way out.” Tambu finished the thought for her. “It’s a little late for that now, don’t you think?”
The girl stared wordlessly for a few moments, then threw back her head and laughed.