The Road to the Rim - A. Bertram Chandler [30]
"I was shanghaied away here as a gunnery officer," said Grimes.
"Shanghaied—or press-ganged?" queried Craven.
"The technique was more that of the shanghai," Grimes told him.
"Indeed?" Craven's voice was cold. "But no matter. "You're here, and you're one of my senior officers. What course of action do you recommend?"
Grimes replied slowly and carefully. "Legally speaking, what we're involved in isn't a war. But it is a war, of sorts. And a just war. And, in any case, the Master of a merchant vessel has the legal right to resist illegal seizure or destruction by force of arms. Of course, we have to consider the illegal circumstances attending the arming of this ship . . . ."
"Let's not get bogged down in legalities and illegalities," said Craven, with a touch of impatience. "The lawyers can sort it all out eventually. Do we reactivate?"
"Yes," said Grimes.
"And you, Mr. Baxter. What do you say?"
"We Rim Worlders just don't like Waldegren. I'll not pass up a chance ter kick the bastards in the teeth. Reactivate, Skipper."
"Good. And how long will it take you to make good the circuit the beacon's spliced in to?"
"Twenty minutes. No more. But d'yer think we oughter put the whole thing to the vote first?"
"No. Everybody here was under the impression that we should be fighting. With one possible exception, they're all volunteers."
"But I did volunteer, sir," objected Grimes.
"Make your mind up, Ensign. You were telling me just now that you'd been shanghaied. All right. Everybody is a volunteer. So we just rebait the trap without any more yapping about it. Let me know as soon as you're ready, Mr. Baxter. Will you require assistance?"
"I'll manage, Skipper."
When he was gone Craven turned to Grimes. "You realize, Ensign, that this puts me in rather a jam. Let me put it this way. Am I justified in risking the lives of all my officers to carry out a private act of vengeance?"
"I think that you can take Mr. Baxter and myself as being representative, sir. As for the others—Miss Pentecost's a Rim Worlder, and her views will coincide with Baxter's. And the original crew members—they're just as entitled to vengeance as you are. I know that if I'd been an officer of this ship at the time of the original piracy I'd welcome the chance of hitting back."
"You would. Yes. Even if, as now, an alternative suddenly presented itself. But . . ."
"I honestly don't see what you're worrying about, sir."
"You wouldn't. It's a matter of training. But, for all my Reserve commission, I'm a merchant officer. Oh, I know that any military commander is as responsible for the lives of his men as I am—but he also knows that those lives, like his own, are expendable."
"It's a pity that Baxter found the beacon," said Grimes.
"It is—and it isn't. If he hadn't found it, I shouldn't be soliloquizing like a spacefaring Hamlet. And we should have brought the ship in intact and, like as not, all been awarded Lloyd's Medals. On the other hand—if he hadn't found it we—or I?—should have lost our chance of getting back at the pirates."
"You aren't Hamlet, sir." Grimes spoke with the assurance of the very young, but in later years he was to remember his words, and to feel neither shame nor embarrassment, but only a twinge of envy and regret. "You aren't Hamlet. You're Captain Craven, Master under God. Please, sir, for once in your life do something you want to do, and argue it out later with the Almightly if you must."
"And with my owners?" Grimes couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw something like a smile beneath Craven's full beard. "And with my owners?"
"Master Astronauts' certificates aren't all that common, sir. If worst comes to worst, there's always the Rim Worlds. The Sundowner Line, isn't it?"
"I'd already thought of that." There was no doubt about it. Craven was smiling. "After all that you've been saying to me, I'm surprised that you don't join forces with our Miss Pentecost."
"Go out to the Rim, sir? Hardly."
"Don't be so sure, young Grimes. Anyhow, you'd better get Miss Pentecost up here now so that