at his desk, seeming not to have moved
since he had showed his agent out earlier in the day.

"Well, we're in a nice puddle of something-or-other," Cardon greeted
him. "On top of that Gardner telecast, this morning--"

"Guthrie Parham's taking care of that, and everything's going to be
done to ridicule Gardner," Lancedale told him. "And even this business
at the store can be turned to some advantage. Before we're through, we
may gain more votes than we lose for Pelton. And we had an informal
meeting--Joyner for Retail Merchandising, Starke for Grievance
Settlements, and four or five others including myself, to make up a
quorum. We had Bayne in, and heard his story of it, and we got a
report from one of our stoolies in the store. Bayne thought he was
due for a commendation; instead, he got an eat-out. Of course, it was
a fact that Pelton'd hit him, and we can't have Literates punched
around, regardless of provocation. So we voted to fine Pelton ten
million for beating Bayne up, and to award him ten million for losses
resulting from unauthorized withdrawal of Literate services. We
ordered a new crew of Literates to the store, and we exiled Bayne to
Brooklyn, to something called Stillman's Used Copter and Junk Bazaar.
For the next few months, the only thing he'll find that's round and
pinchable will be second-hand tires. But don't be too hard on him; I
think he did us a favor."

"You mean, starting a rift between Pelton and the Consolidated
Illiterates' Organization, which we can widen after the election?"

"No. I hadn't thought of it that way, Frank," Lancedale smiled. "It's
an idea worth keeping in mind, and we'll exploit it, later. What I was
thinking about was the more immediate problem of the election--"

The buzzer on Lancedale's desk interrupted, and a voice came out of
the commo box:

"Message, urgent and private, sir. Source named as Sforza."

Cardon recognized the name. Maybe the Independent-Conservatives have
troubles, too, he thought hopefully. Then Lancedale's video screen
became the frame for an almost unbelievably commonplace set of
features.

"Sforza, sir," the man in the screen said. "Sorry I'm late, but I was
able to get out of the building only a few minutes ago, and I had to
make sure I wasn't wearing a tail. I have two new facts. First, the
Conservatives have been bringing storm troops in from outside, from
Philadelphia, and from Wilkes-Scranton, and from Buffalo. They are
being concentrated