ship, as well as controls and primary
armament had been installed weeks before I showed up. Much of the
subsidiary work remained to be done when the ship had left. One witness
of the theft had graphically described the power lines and cables
dangling from the ship's locks when she lifted.

[Illustration]

My arrival had forced Pepe off balance. Now I had to keep pushing until
he fell. This meant I had to think as he did, fall into his plan, think
ahead--then trap him. Set a thief to catch a thief. A great theory, only
I felt uncomfortably on the spot when I tried to put it into practice.

A drink helped, as did a cigar. Puffing on it, staring at the smooth
bulkhead, relaxed me a bit. After all--there aren't that many things
you can do with a battleship. You can't run a big con, blow safes or
make burmedex with it. It is hell-on-jets for space piracy, but that's
about all.

"Great, great--but why a battleship?"

I was talking to myself, normally a bad sign, but right now I didn't
care. The mood of space piracy had seized me and I had been going along
fine. Until this glaring inconsistency jumped out and hit me square in
the eye.

Why a battleship? Why all the trouble and years of work to get a ship
that two people could just barely manage? With a tenth of the effort
Pepe could have had a cruiser that would have suited his purposes just
as well.

Just as good for space piracy, that is--but not for _his_ purposes. He
had wanted a battleship, and he had gotten himself a battleship. Which
meant he had more in mind than simple piracy. What? It was obvious that
Pepe was a monomaniac, an egomaniac, and as psychotic as a shorted
computer. Some day the mystery of how he had slipped through the screen
of official testing would have to be investigated. That wasn't my
concern now. He still had to be caught.

* * * * *

A plan was beginning to take shape in my head, but I didn't rush it.
First I had to be sure that I knew him well. Any man that can con an
entire world into building a battleship for him--then steal it from
them--is not going to stop there. The ship would need a crew, a base for
refueling and a mission.

Fuel had been taken care of first, the gutted hull of _Ogget's Dream_
was silent witness to that. There were countless planets that could be
used as a base. Getting a crew would be more difficult in these peaceful
times, although I could think of a few answers to that one, to