That meant nothing; none of them had been near a news-screen lately. "What's going on topside?" the man with the bandaged head and the four stripes on his sleeve asked. "There was firing, artillery and nuclears, and they herded us down here. Have you cleaned the bloody murderers out?" "We're working on it," Conn said. "I take it they aren't friends of yours?" Foolish Question of the Year; they all made that evident. "They took my ship; they murdered my first officer and half my crew and passengers...." "They burned our home and killed our servants," the girl said. "They kidnapped my father and me...." "They've been keeping us here as slaves." "It's the Blackie Perales gang," the tall man with the gray beard said. "They've been making us work for them, converting a blasted tub of a contragravity ship into a spacecraft. I beg your pardon, Captain Nichols; she was a fine ship--for her intended purpose." "You're Captain Nichols?" Anse Dawes exclaimed. "Of the _Harriet Barne_?" "That's right. The _Harriet Barne's_ here; they've been making us work on her, to convert her to an interplanetary craft, of all idiotic things." "My name's Yves Jacquemont," the man with the gray beard said. "I'm a retired hyperspace maintenance engineer; I had a little business at Waterville, buying, selling and rebuilding agricultural machinery. This gang found out about me; they raided and burned our village and carried me and my daughter, Sylvie, away. We've been working for them for the last four months, tearing Captain Nichols' ship down and armoring her with collapsium." "How many pirates are there here?" That started an argument. Nobody was quite sure; two hundred and fifty seemed to be the highest estimate, which Conn decided to play safe by accepting. "You get us out of here," Yves Jacquemont was saying. "All we want is a chance at them." "How about arms? You can't do much with clubs and fists." "Don't worry about that; we know where to get arms. The treasure house, where they store their loot. There's plenty of arms and ammunition, and anything else you can think of. They've used us to help stow the stuff; we know where it is." "Anse, you remember those scows we saw, in the big room before we came to the broad passage? Take four men in the jeep; have them lift two of them and bring them here. Then, you get out to the end of the tunnel and call the _Lester Dawes_. Tell them what's happened, tell them they can get gunboats all the way in, and wait to guide them when they arrive." When Anse turned and climbed into the jeep, he asked Yves Jacquemont: "Why does this Perales want an interplanetary ship?"