“So? Maybe he could do damage with one of those antiques of his, at that—if he could get someone to hold still long enough for him to shoot at them. But nobody makes ammunition for the things any more. Where’s he getting that?”
“Makes it himself.” Don smiled. “He’s got quite a workshop down in the basement.”
Masterson nodded. “That’s Kent Michaels, all right. O.K., youngster, I knew who you were in the first place. Just checking. Tell me, did he get you mixed up with that antique craze of his?”
Don nodded. “I beat him at it once in a while, sir.”
“Did you hand him another beating yesterday? When you went out of here, it looked as though you were going to have to whip somebody.”
Don frowned. “He made a monkey out of me. I couldn’t stay on target.”
“Uh, huh.” Masterson nodded slowly. “Figures. Remember that, that it’ll be the most valuable match you ever lost.”
“Sir?”
“That’s right. Yesterday, you got pretty well charged up. Even managed to warm up a secret police agent. Doesn’t pay, believe me. About the time you get emotionally involved in a problem, the problem turns around and bites you. You’re lucky. Someone else got bit instead—this time. You see, one of us didn’t get shook up.”
“I don’t—”
Masterson tilted his head. “We had an unfortunate accident here right after you left. Dr. Rayson went rushing out of here and took off in his flier. Something went wrong—nobody’s sure what. Maybe he didn’t let his stabilizing rotors have time to lock in. Maybe a lot of things. Anyway, he flipped about fifty meters up. Came down pretty fast, and burned right by the parking lot. Quite a mess.” He nodded sadly.
“Shame. Fine psychologist, and one of the best secret policemen in the realm.”
“You—”
Masterson held up a hand. “Let’s just say he was careless.” He motioned.
“Sit down. No, not in the hot seat. Take that one over there. Then you can see things.” He drew a long breath.
“Your father say anything about Stern?”
Don nodded. “He doesn’t like him too well.”
“He’s got company. Know what Stern’s trying to do, don’t you?”
Don laughed uneasily. “I’m pretty well mixed up, to be truthful. From what Dad told me, he’s trying to turn Oredan into a Dictatorship, with him at the head. Then, he’ll take over the rest of the planet—a piece at a time.”
“Close. He’s planned it pretty well, too. He’s got the royal succession pretty well balled up. He’s almost ready to move in right now. Only one stumbling block. Know what that is?”
Don shook his head.
“Youngster named Petoen Waern. He’s old enough—older than he looks. His mother’s a niece of the last king. Conclave of the tribes could put him on the throne tomorrow morning. He’s a bet Stern missed a while back. Now, he’s trying to make up for it.”
Don frowned. “Is that really why—”
“Right. That’s why the row in the locker room. That would have eliminated that claimant in a hurry. Nobody wants a king with a family criminal record and a habit of starting brawls—especially when he loses those brawls. Kings just aren’t supposed to go in for that sort of thing.” Masterson smiled mirthlessly.
“Anyway, I doubt he’d have survived that affair if you hadn’t rammed your neck into it.”
“But there are other claimants. They’ll come of age pretty soon.”
“Sure they will. But that’s pretty soon—and not soon enough. Besides, Stern’s got them under control, along with their families—the important ones, anyway. There’d be a deadlock when a conclave started checking their claims. And somehow, their councilors wouldn’t be able to come up with quite the right arguments.
“If a formal conclave meets, and no claimant is clearly eligible for the throne—know who’ll be called to start a new royal line?”
“But he—” Don shook his head doubtfully.
“Yes, he could.” Masterson shook his head. “Sure, he’s regent. But he hasn’t renounced his position as prime minister. And with his personal effect on people, he couldn’t lose. No, the only reason he can’t stand a conclave right now is one youngster—and one family he’s never been able to control, because they stay out of his personal reach. And he almost got the youngster out of the way. Neat little operation, with only one thing that could go wrong. You.”
Don frowned. “But that affair was just a personal—”
“Think so? Oh, sure, I gave the Hunters a big horselaugh yesterday. Rayson was around then. And Rayson was a pretty big boy. He knew all about the Hunters, I’m pretty sure. And I know better than to laugh about them.” He leaned forward.
“I can’t prove it, and it wouldn’t do too much good if I tried, but I know perfectly well who’s behind not only the Hunters, but a flock of other criminal gangs—juvenile and adult as well. Think I didn’t know I was talking to a bunch of Hunters when I listened to that rigged story of theirs about the Keltons? Think I didn’t realize Rayson was sitting there prompting them whenever they started to get confused?” He smiled.
“Maybe I’m stupid, but I’m not that stupid. The reason I was rough on you was the fact I didn’t want you signing any statements that Pete had hypnotized—or what would you call it—you. That would have fixed the whole thing and they’d have had him.” He coughed.
“And, too, I knew who you were, of course. I didn’t know for certain how you stood, or how much you could do, but you looked good. And it was pretty obvious you had capabilities.” He smiled.
“Some of the retired guardsmen have had sons go sour on them, you know, so I can’t take ‘em just on faith. But, as I said, the locker room deal looked good, and the more you talked, the better I liked it.”
“But you—”
“Yeah, I know. I wasn’t taking such a chance, though, at that. Truth of the matter is I’m about as bad as your father. You couldn’t make me give you the right time if I didn’t feel like it.” Masterson’s eyes crinkled in an amused smile.
“Go ahead. Try it.”
Don shook his head. “I’ll take your word,” he said. “I tried to tell Dad off once. Somehow, things get a little unpleasant.”
“Yeah.” Masterson stretched luxuriously. “Anyway, I figured you’d be a lot handier around here alive and in operating condition. The last thing I could let happen would be for Rayson to get you on that trick table of his. Once he got that thing to rocking and rolling, he’d stand back there, making soothing noises, and almost anyone would break down and give him all they’d ever known. After that, they’d lie back and believe anything he felt like telling them.” He waved a hand back and forth as Don started to speak.
“Later, huh? We can discuss all the ins and outs some day when this is all over. Right now, let’s be getting back to business.” He smiled disarmingly and leaned back in his chair.
“Somehow, Stern’s hand has got to be forced. He’s off balance right now, and we want him further off. We want him to make a move he can’t back out of. And you may be able to make him do just that.”
“I might?”
“Yes. Suppose the hill tribes joined with the Waernu and demanded that a conclave consider Pete’s claim to the throne. What then?”
“I guess there’d be a conclave.”
“There might, at that. Now, let’s go a little further. Suppose the Waernu claim were upheld and we got a new king—let’s see, he’d drop a syllable—King Petonar. Where would our friend, Stern, end up?”
Don grinned wolfishly. “Khor Fortress. Even I can figure that much out.”
Masterson stood up and paced around the office.
“So, if we can get Jasu and his son in motion and get them up in the Morek, something’s bound to break. Right?” He stopped in front of Don.
“Oh, of course, Stern might call out the Royal Guard and scream rebellion. He’d probably do just that, if things went that far. He’s getting in the propaganda
groundwork for it now. But what he doesn’t know is that he’d help us that way.” He perched on Rayson’s desk.
“You see, we’ve got some colonists that would yell at the top of their lungs for protection of their interests by the Federation. And then there would be a conclave—with plenty of supervision. Either way, he’d get right into checkmate.” He clasped one knee in his hands and rocked back and forth.
“But there’s one thing that stands in our way. Jasu Waern’s scared to death. We’ve never quite dared explain this whole thing to him, and now no one can get near enough to talk to him. Harle was the clan head and the one with the nerve. He’s gone, and Jasu’s holed up. Won’t let his son out of the house. Won’t let anyone in. We can’t move.”
He got back to his feet and walked over to the window.
“Now, let’s take some more suppositions. Suppose a flier went out of control and crashed in the middle of the Waern house. Or suppose some major criminal took refuge close to the place and decided to shoot it out with the Enforcement Corps. Seems to be a habit criminals have gotten into lately. And suppose a stray inductor beam just happened to graze the Waern living room.
“Then, who’s checkmated?”
He looked down at his chair, then walked over and dropped into it.
“There’s only one way to get Jasu in motion. You’re it. The way you slammed Rayson back in his chair yesterday gave me an idea. You can get in there, and you’ll have to move him—by force—compulsion—however you want to.
“Meantime, I’ll get some things going. Your father can start the hill tribes getting together. He knows all the important head men. I’ll give him a little push in that direction. Then, we’ll get some more people to work.”
Don looked at him for a moment. “Well, Dad told me I’d probably have to earn my keep. Anything else I ought to know?”
Jasu Waern looked up in annoyance, then got to his feet.
“Who are you?” he demanded. “How did you get in here?” He reached into a pocket.
Don Michaels spread his hands away from his body.
“Leave that weapon alone,” he said sharply. “I came as a friend, and I’d hate to have someone shooting at me.”
“But who are you?”
“I’m Donald Michaels. I want to talk to Pete . . . Petoen, I should say.”
“My son is seeing no one. There has been—”
“I know,” interrupted Don. “Trouble. Listen, I’ve had trouble myself in the past couple of days. It all started when I prevented a bunch of roughnecks from slapping Pete around.” He frowned.
“Since then, things haven’t been too pleasant.” He held up a finger.
“I got accused of falsifying my report on the affair in the locker room. Pete didn’t show up to testify, and everyone was looking at me.” He extended a second finger.
“Pressure was put on me to sign a statement saying Pete used mental influence to make me put in a false statement. And I got into it with the school psychologist.” A third finger snapped out.
“Next thing, I was being accused of accepting a money bribe from Pete. And I really got into it with the faculty advisor. That’s not good.” He dropped his hands to his sides.
“Right now, I’m not too popular at school. And I want to know what’s going on. I want to know why Pete didn’t show up to give me backing. I want to know what can be done to unscramble this mess.”
Wearn shook his head slowly. “There are other schools—private schools,” he said. “And we are still possessed of some—”
“Careful, Mr. Waern.” Don held up a warning hand. “I don’t carry the sling, but I do come from the Morek. Don’t say something that might be misinterpreted. I want to see things straightened out. I didn’t come here to start a feud with you.”
Jasu Waern shivered a little. “But you are galactic, are you not? Surely, you are no hillman.”
“I was brought up among them. Now get Pete. I want to talk to both of you.”
Waern looked unhappy. But he walked across the room and pulled at a cord.
A servant came to the door.
“Tell Master Petoen,” ordered Waern, “that I would like to see him in here.”
The man bowed and left. Waern turned back to Don.
“You see, Mr. Michaels,” he said apologetically, “we are in difficult times here. My brother—”
“I know.” Don nodded. “Pete was upset the other evening. He told me a little. A little more than is made public.”
Waern’s eyebrows went up. “He said nothing about that.”
Don waved negligently. “It did no harm. Maybe it was a good thing.” He turned toward the door, waiting.
Pete came in, looking about the room. “You brought Don Michaels here, Father?”
Waern shook his head. “He came. He insisted on talking to you, Petoen. And I find he is very persuasive.”
“Oh.” Pete turned. “I’m sorry, Don. Father thought that I—”
Don laughed shortly. “He was right—to some extent. But I’d like to talk to both of you about a few things.”
He moved back, to perch on the edge of a heavily carved table.
“Let’s look at it this way. I got into trouble over the affair. Not good, of course, but what happened to me is just one small incident. All over Oredan, good intentioned people have things happening to them. Sometimes, they’re pretty serious things—like someone getting killed. And they usually can’t figure out what hit them. These things happen pretty often. Why?”
Waern looked uncomfortable, but said nothing. Don looked at him curiously.
“Do you really think, Mr. Waern, that you can sit here in peace? That if you ignore this whole mess, it’ll go away?”
Jasu Waern spread his hands. “What dare I do? My brother was trying to do something. He is gone.”
“True. He tried to clean up a little here and fix a little there. And that only in one city. He didn’t come boldly out and demand. He was playing on the edge of the board, not in the center. A king could do much more than that.”
Waern looked at him, shaking his head.
“Yes, I know about the succession,” Don told him. “And why shouldn’t you demand? You could get the support of the hill tribes. All you need do is ask.”
“I have thought of that. Perhaps we should have done that—once. But now? After my brother’s death? And what could the hillmen do against the weapons of the plains?”
Don smiled at him. “Would the hillmen believe the stories about your brother in the face of your personal denial before their own council? Would they accept such a thing about any of the Waernu unless it were proven by strong evidence? Yours is one of the clans, even yet, you must remember. And how about the honor of the Waernu?”
Jasu’s face was suddenly drawn. Don continued.
“And would the plainsmen dare use their weapons against a legitimate claimant? For that matter, what good would their weapons be against a Federation Strike Group, even if they did use them?”
“You seem so sure.”
“Not just sure. Certain.” Don glanced at his watch, then frowned.
“We’ve lost a lot of time.” His voice sharpened.
“Come on,” he snapped. “My sportster will carry three people. Let’s get out of here while we can still make it.” He made shooing motions.
Waern moved toward the door, then turned.
“To the Morek?”
“That’s right. Up to the Morek. We’re going to start a feud.”
Andrew Masterson looked at the handset approvingly. Little Mike was getting the idea. He was still just as fast as he’d ever been. He made a little noise in his throat, then spoke.
“Well, if you have any questions, Mr. Michaels, feel free to call us here. Thank you, and good-by.”
He dropped the handset to its cradle and leaned back again.
So that was set up. Little Mike would be on his way out to the hills by the time he’d completed this next call. And he’d have the clans re
ady for talks with the Waernu. Now, the next step would be to alert Jahns, down in the Resident Commissioner’s office.
He looked at the surface of his desk, considering, then reached for the phone again. He’d have to be careful on this one.
The door opened and two men came through. One of them held out a card.
“Masterson?”
“That’s right.”
“Like to have you come with us. People investigating Rayson’s accident have some questions they’d like to ask you.”
“Oh?” Masterson’s eyebrows went up. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t be much help on that. I saw him go down, of course, but the view from this window isn’t the best. I really—”
The other shook his head. “Look, don’t tell me about it. They just told us to come out and get you. Got a lot of experts down there. They’ll ask the questions.”
Masterson looked at the man appraisingly, then glanced at his partner, who stood by the door, leaning against the wall.
These two, he thought, would be no great problem. Nothing here but arms and legs. But—
He smiled to himself.
It would be you or the whole tribe, he thought.
He might still be able to remain under cover, and he’d be a lot more effective that way.
So maybe they were a little suspicious. He glanced down at the desk. The little control box was safely destroyed and its operation had left no evidence. Even if they did suspect the cause of Rayson’s crash, they couldn’t prove a thing. No, his best bet was to go along with these two and hope the questioning would be short enough to allow him to brief Jahns with plenty of time to spare. He shrugged.
“Well,” he said aloud, “I’ll go with you, of course, though I don’t see how I can be of any help. Terrible thing, losing Rayson that way.”
“Yeah. Real bad.” The other nodded curtly. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Daniel Stern looked angrily at his aide.
“Just who is responsible for this report?” he demanded.
The aide looked aside. “It came in from Riandar Headquarters, your honor,” he said. “Colonel Konir signed it himself.”
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