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Word would travel fast. I would be left with a bad reputation and no one would hire me.
Just then, a crowd of Rogizians encircled the crew. They all looked around eight years old. A couple looked a little older but still hadn’t yet reached their teens. They bore no weapons. They were a passive and non-aggressive species.
Stryder dropped the kids he held clutched under his arms and leveled his pistol at the locals.
“Computer,” I said. “Activate weapons systems. If anyone opens fire, retaliate.”
“Order confirmed,” Computer said.
The weapons on a smuggler ship were basic. A smuggling ship was made for speed and agility, not warfare. But it was more than enough to make the crew shake in their boots.
“Drop the natives,” I said. “You have five seconds to comply.”
“He’s bluffing!” Stryder said. “He won’t open fire on us!”
“Computer,” I said. “Countdown five seconds. If my former crew does not release the hostages they’re carrying, open fire.”
“Order confirmed,” Computer said. “Five… Four… Three… Two…”
Before the countdown reached one, the crew released their hostages, who sprinted toward their loved ones.
“Computer,” Alice said. “De-activate the speaker system.” She turned to me. “What are you going to do with them? You could turn them over to the Enforcers.”
“As their captain, I would be as guilty of their crimes as they are,” I said.
“But you didn’t order them to come here,” Alice said.
“That doesn’t matter. I’m still the ship’s captain. So long as that holds true, the Enforcers will arrest me.”
I re-activated the speaker system. “Rogizians,” I said. “These smugglers tried to abduct your people. You should punish them any way you see fit.”
A child of no more than eleven or twelve stepped forward. “We do not believe in imprisonment or any other punishment.”
“Then hold them here,” I said. “Call the Enforcers once I leave.”
“We have no prisons and we cannot hold them,” the eleven-year-old said.
“Then force them to do hard labor,” I said. “Make them dig in the mines for you.”
“We cannot take slaves. We refuse to become like them.”
I hissed through my teeth.
“I’ve got an idea,” Alice said. She whispered in my ear.
Could it work?
“They are my gift to you,” I said. “Take them. Use them for the next ten years in your mine. Release them in ten years and one day. And let them find their own way home.”
The eleven-year-old stroked his chin in thought. “A gift?”
“From me to you, to apologize for what they did to you today.”
“You can’t do that!” Stryder said. “We would be slaves in all but name only!”
The elder cocked his head to one side. “You are not slaves. You are gifts.” And he nodded. “Yes, this is something we can accept. We thank you for your gifts.”
“Wait,” I said. “There’s one more I wish to give you… Computer, expel pod number seven.”
