In all honesty Harvey didn’t know what to do. But he did know that the crew would turn into a bunch of bickering intergalactic bin men if he let them know that. You can’t let a crew lose confidence in the captain. It’s bad for team spirit.
So he said in a confident tone, ‘Officer Gizmo is right. We’re responsible for that cargo container and … ’
‘Um, technically we’re not,’ cut in Gizmo. ‘You are. You’re the captain.’
‘And you signed the digiforms,’ said Scrummage.
‘Yup, you’re on your own on this one,’ said Maxie.
Thanks a bunch, thought Harvey, so much for team spirit.
‘Computer, do you have any suggestions?’ he asked.
‘Of course I do,’ snapped the computer, bleeping importantly. ‘But first can I just check how much space travel insurance you have?’
‘Er … none,’ said Harvey.
Gizmo gasped softly and Scrummage whistled in his teeth.
‘Blimey, you’re braver than you look,’ said Maxie.
‘Yes,’ said the computer, its lights flickering on and off smugly. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in your space boots if the Intergalactic Traffic Police find out!
‘Well, in that case, given:
a) the size of the container and
b) the damage and deaths it could cause,
c) the fact that you personally signed for it and
d) that you have no space travel insurance and last but not least
e) the danger of a murderous bunch of space pirates pitching up and slitting your gizzards …
then I suggest we do a runner.’
Maxie swung round back to the flight desk. ‘Right, let’s get out of here. Standing by for cosmic speed, Captain,’ she said, frantically punching buttons and taking the supersonic handbrake off.
‘Nooooo!’ cried Scrummage, desperate at losing the Techno-tium.
‘Yes!’ cried Yargal, who didn’t fancy hanging around and waiting for a bunch of space pirates to do the gizzard-splitting thing.
‘No!’ cried Gizmo, who didn’t want to abandon the cargo container.
‘Again, standing by for cosmic speed, Captain,’ reminded Maxie urgently.
There was a tiny nanobeat before Harvey spoke and four faces and nine eyes turned to stare at him in disbelief.
‘Stand down Maxie,’ he said calmly.
You didn’t get chosen to captain the Highford All Stars for two years if you gave up and ran away when things got tough. Harvey had been picked, not just because he was talented, but because he knew all the other players’ skills. He knew their strengths and their weaknesses. And he never let them give up.
So he stood his ground, and chose his words carefully.
‘We’re not going to abandon the cargo container and run away.’ Turning to Gizmo he said, ‘One, putting others at risk is irresponsible.’
And then he looked at Yargal. ‘Two, running away to save ourselves and leaving others in danger is cowardly.’
‘Three, running away before there’s anything to run away from is pointless,’ he said to Maxie.
Finally, looking at Scrummage he said: ‘And four, leaving the Techno-tium for another team … er, space crew to grab is stupid.
‘We can do this. And in fact we have to do this – because we’re the crew of the Toxic Spew, and we’re the only bin men in Galaxy 43b. So the only question is how?’