"We didn't kill those people," Hastings said. "Please note, Mr. Justice, that we have gotten right down to the dirty work of bringing them in, identifying the dead, helping the survivors -"
"How noble of you," Keel said. "I was wondering how long it would take to get down to this. You haven't mentioned your fee, of course."
Both Mermen looked grim but they did not appear particularly flustered.
"Someone has to pay," Hastings said. "No one topside has the facilities to -"
"So you pick up the dead," Keel said. "And their families topside pay for your trouble. With a tidy profit for certain contractors, too."
"Nobody expects to work for nothing," Hastings said.
Keel rolled one eye toward Brett, then back. "And when you rescue a live fisherman, you find a way to accommodate him, keeping a close account of the expenses, naturally."
"I don't want anything for my part," Scudi said. Her eyes flashed anger at both Keel and Hastings.
"I respect that, Scudi," Keel said. "I wasn't indicting you. But your fellow Mermen here have a different viewpoint. Brett has no fishing gear to seize, no nets or sonar or beaten-up boat. How will he pay for his life? Ten years of chopping onions in a Merman kitchen?"
Hastings said, "Really, Mr. Justice, I don't understand your reluctance to make matters easier."
"I was lured here under false pretenses," Keel said. "I haven't been out of sight of my ... hosts ... long enough to spit." He pointed to the view port across from them. "Look there!" He lowered his pointing finger to indicate the deck below. "Those bodies are shredded, burned, cut to pieces. Guemes was assaulted! I think a reconstruction will show that it was assaulted from below by a hardshell sub."
For the first time, Hastings appeared as though he might lose control. His eyes squinted and his brows drew down over his beak of a nose. His jaw clenched and he hissed between his teeth: "See here! I'm only doing what Merman law requires me to do. In my judgment -"
"Oh, please," Keel interrupted, "judgment is my job and I'm experienced in it. To me, you look like a pair of leeches. I don't like leeches. Please leave us."
"Since you are who you are," Hastings said, "I will accept that for the moment. This boy, however -"
"Has me here to look out for his interests," Keel said. "This is not the time nor the place for your services."
Lonfinn stepped to one side, casually blocking the exit passage from the observation platform.
"The boy will answer for himself," Hastings said.
"The Justice asked you to leave," Brett said.
Scudi squeezed Brett's hand and said, "Please. I will be responsible for them. Ambassador Ale sent me personally to bring them here. Your presence is disruptive."
Hastings looked her in the eyes as though he wanted to say, "Big talk for a little girl," but he swallowed it. His right index finger indicated the plaz box under Lonfinn's arm, then dropped. "Very well," he said. "We were trying to smooth out the red tape but the situation is difficult." He shot a quick glance at the congested deck below them. "However, I am required to escort you back to Ryan Wang's quarters. It may have been a mistake to bring you here."
"I find it agreeable to leave," Keel said. "I've seen enough." His voice was once more smooth and diplomatic.
Brett heard the double meaning in Keel's statement and thought, That old spinnarett has a web or two left in him.
The thought stayed with Brett as they returned to Wang's spacious quarters. It had been wise to follow the Chief Justice's lead. Even Scudi had fallen in with Keel. She had kept her hand in Brett's most of the way back to her father's quarters, in spite of disapproving little glances from Hastings and Lonfinn. Her hand in his conveyed a feeling of closeness that Brett enjoyed.
Once inside the plush room of colored cushions, Keel said, "Thank you, gentlemen. I'm sure we can contact you if you're needed."
"You'll hear from us," Hastings said before he sealed the hatch behind him.
Keel crossed to the hatch and pressed the switch but nothing happened. The hatch stayed sealed. He glanced at Scudi.
"Those men worked for my father," she said. "I don't like them." She slipped her hand from Brett's and crossed to a dark red cushion where she sat with her chin on her knees and her arms clasped around her legs. The yellow-and-green stripes along her singlesuit curved as she curved.
"Brett," Keel said, "I will speak openly, because one of us may be able to get back topside to warn the other Islands. My suspicions are being confirmed at every turn. I believe our Island way of life is about to be drowned in a shallow sea."
Scudi lifted her chin and stared up at him with dismay. Brett could not find his voice.
Keel looked down at Scudi, thinking how her pose reminded him of a many-legged mollusk that rolled up into a tight ball when disturbed.
"The popular teaching," Keel said, "is that Island life is just temporary until we get back to the land."
"But Guemes ..." Brett said. He could not get further.
"Yes, Guemes," Keel said.
"No!" Scudi blurted. "Mermen couldn't have done that! We protect the Islands!"
"I believe you, Scudi," Keel said. His neck pained him but he lifted his great head the way he did when passing judgment in his own court. "Things are happening that the people are not aware of ... the people topside and the people down under."
Scudi asked Keel, "You really think Mermen did this?"
"We must reserve judgment until all the evidence is gathered," he said. "Nevertheless, it seems the most likely possibility."
Scudi shook her head. Brett saw sorrow and rejection there.
"Mermen wouldn't do such a thing," she whispered.
"It's not the Merman government," Keel said. "Principles of government sometimes take one course while people take another - a political double standard. And perhaps neither really controls events."
What's he saying? Brett wondered.
Keel continued: "Mermen and Islanders both have tolerated only the loosest kind of government. I am Chief Justice of a most powerful arm of that government - the one that says whether the newborn of our Islands will live or die. It pleases some to call me Chairman and others to call me Chief Justice. I do not feel that I dispense justice."
"I can't believe anyone would just eliminate the Islands," Scudi said.
"Someone certainly eliminated Guemes," Keel said. One sad eye drifted toward Brett, the other remained focused on Scudi. "It should be investigated, don't you think?"
"Yes." She nodded against her knees.
"It would be good to have inside help," Keel said. "On the other hand, I would not want to endanger anyone who helped me."
"What do you need?" Scudi asked.
"Information," he said. "Recent news recordings for the Merman audience. A survey of Merman jobs would help - which categories still have openings, which are filled to overflowing. I need to know what's really happening down here. And we'll need comparable statistics on the Islander population that's living down under."
"I don't understand," Scudi said.