“We button up these vips, Harband yells and the patrol comes running. Those lads could cut us off in the breaks and starve us out. And where could we park the vips to have them ready and yet able to breathe and walk?”
“Yes, another small problem. To establish any kind of a semi-permanent base is to invite immediate investigation from the patrol. Move around and we expose our prisoners to the elements and lose them before we can prove their value.”
“Not if we take them off-planet!”
That one sentence from Samms might have been the opening blast of a second blanket the way it silenced his listeners. Joktar caught the new note in the other’s voice. Samms was getting close to his serious play now.
Hogan plucked at his mask. “Well, well. Do I detect some thoughts of Councilor Cullan and his visit to Loki?”
Again that tiny movement toward the blaster. All of Samms’ impatience could not be an act. And Hogan was deliberately applying pressure.
“What’s this Cullan got to do with it? He one of the vips?” Ebers wanted to know.
“At present he’s a member of the Supreme Council, and he’s anti-company, doesn’t believe in the monopolies on frontier planets. He’s argued the subject for years, now he’s beginning to get backing, big backing. And the vips are worrying. Three years ago there was a serious shake-up in the Colonization Section. A man named Kronfeld got in as one of the project directors. He’s no political hack, but came up through the technical side. He’s talked Alvarn Thomlistos into supporting some of his ideas. And the Great Thorn has established a new foundation, backed by the net profits from the Alban Freight, the Orsfo-Kol Mining Corporation and a few other such organizations.”
Joktar was startled. The net profits of the companies Hogan listed were enough to make a man slightly breathless when he tried to reckon the amounts of credits involved.
“I don’t think I need point out that the Great Thorn has friends on a great many different government levels. So Cullan sat down with Kronfeld and listened, really listened, to some truths. With Thom backing the spread of these ideas there’s going to be a lot of activity around the galaxy. About two months from now Cullan will be on Loki, gathering material for an assault on the company set-up as it is at present. Suppose a shipload of Harband vips, together with some spokesmen from our own select group, were to land there about the same time. Our arrival couldn’t be hushed up so that Cullan wouldn’t hear of it, and the subject matter could be just his meat. That is what you have in mind, isn’t it, Samms?”
If he were aware Hogan had taken over, Samms made no sign of either recognizing that or admitting defeat now.
“You are correct and amazingly well-informed.”
“And with Gagly dead, you’ll need the services of a pilot. Rysdyke now has the distinction of being the only free one on Fenris. Perhaps you had him in mind all along; Gagly had been out of space for five years. Now . . . when do you suggest we make this try to take over the Harband Field?”
“You mean you’re willing to go along with this crazy scheme, Hogan?” Ebers sounded incredulous.
“I think it has a number of possibilities.”
“Enough to get us all killed!” Ebers shot back. It was Samms who answered that.
“Would you rather rot out here? We have to make some definite move against the companies soon and I don’t mean just knocking off a hole in the mountains! We really have to cut into their cruising orbits or we’re outclassed and through. The free men on Fenris either climb to the top now or they cease to be free!”
“He’s right, you know, Ebers. We’ve dragged on here for two years now with a closed port. Our trade’s been finished entirely for six months. We’re three mobs, and a scattering of loners; we’re all that are left. And how many new recruits do you get? Not enough to take the places of the men we lose, let
“Yes, another small problem. To establish any kind of a semi-permanent base is to invite immediate investigation from the patrol. Move around and we expose our prisoners to the elements and lose them before we can prove their value.”
“Not if we take them off-planet!”
That one sentence from Samms might have been the opening blast of a second blanket the way it silenced his listeners. Joktar caught the new note in the other’s voice. Samms was getting close to his serious play now.
Hogan plucked at his mask. “Well, well. Do I detect some thoughts of Councilor Cullan and his visit to Loki?”
Again that tiny movement toward the blaster. All of Samms’ impatience could not be an act. And Hogan was deliberately applying pressure.
“What’s this Cullan got to do with it? He one of the vips?” Ebers wanted to know.
“At present he’s a member of the Supreme Council, and he’s anti-company, doesn’t believe in the monopolies on frontier planets. He’s argued the subject for years, now he’s beginning to get backing, big backing. And the vips are worrying. Three years ago there was a serious shake-up in the Colonization Section. A man named Kronfeld got in as one of the project directors. He’s no political hack, but came up through the technical side. He’s talked Alvarn Thomlistos into supporting some of his ideas. And the Great Thorn has established a new foundation, backed by the net profits from the Alban Freight, the Orsfo-Kol Mining Corporation and a few other such organizations.”
Joktar was startled. The net profits of the companies Hogan listed were enough to make a man slightly breathless when he tried to reckon the amounts of credits involved.
“I don’t think I need point out that the Great Thorn has friends on a great many different government levels. So Cullan sat down with Kronfeld and listened, really listened, to some truths. With Thom backing the spread of these ideas there’s going to be a lot of activity around the galaxy. About two months from now Cullan will be on Loki, gathering material for an assault on the company set-up as it is at present. Suppose a shipload of Harband vips, together with some spokesmen from our own select group, were to land there about the same time. Our arrival couldn’t be hushed up so that Cullan wouldn’t hear of it, and the subject matter could be just his meat. That is what you have in mind, isn’t it, Samms?”
If he were aware Hogan had taken over, Samms made no sign of either recognizing that or admitting defeat now.
“You are correct and amazingly well-informed.”
“And with Gagly dead, you’ll need the services of a pilot. Rysdyke now has the distinction of being the only free one on Fenris. Perhaps you had him in mind all along; Gagly had been out of space for five years. Now . . . when do you suggest we make this try to take over the Harband Field?”
“You mean you’re willing to go along with this crazy scheme, Hogan?” Ebers sounded incredulous.
“I think it has a number of possibilities.”
“Enough to get us all killed!” Ebers shot back. It was Samms who answered that.
“Would you rather rot out here? We have to make some definite move against the companies soon and I don’t mean just knocking off a hole in the mountains! We really have to cut into their cruising orbits or we’re outclassed and through. The free men on Fenris either climb to the top now or they cease to be free!”
“He’s right, you know, Ebers. We’ve dragged on here for two years now with a closed port. Our trade’s been finished entirely for six months. We’re three mobs, and a scattering of loners; we’re all that are left. And how many new recruits do you get? Not enough to take the places of the men we lose, let
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