o. Raid
the mental hospitals and jails. Do that often enough and you would have
a crew that would make any pirate chief proud. Though piracy was, of
course, too mean an ambition to ascribe to this boy. Did he want to rule
a whole planet--or maybe an entire system? Or more? I shuddered a bit as
the thought hit me. Was there really anything that could stop a plan
like this once it got rolling? During the Kingly Wars any number of
types with a couple of ships and less brains than Pepe had set up just
this kind of empire. They were all pulled down in the end, since their
success depended on one-man rule. But the price that had to be paid
first!

This was the plan and I felt in my bones that I was right. I might be
wrong on some of the minor details, they weren't important. I knew the
general outline of the idea, just as when I bumped into a mark I knew
how much he could be taken for, and just how to do it. There are natural
laws in crime as in every other field of human endeavor. I _knew_ this
was it.

"Get the Communications Officer in here at once," I shouted at the
intercom. "Also a couple of clerks with transcribers. And fast--this is
a matter of life or death!" This last had a hollow ring, and I realized
my enthusiasm had carried me out of character. I buttoned my collar,
straightened my ribbons and squared my shoulders. By the time they
knocked on the door I was all admiral again.

Acting on my orders the ship dropped out of warpdrive so our psiman
could get through to the other operators. Captain Steng grumbled as we
floated there with the engines silent, wasting precious days, while half
his crew was involved in getting out what appeared to be insane
instructions. My plan was beyond his understanding. Which is, of course,
why he is a captain and I'm an admiral, even a temporary one.

Following my orders, the navigator again constructed a sphere of
speculation in his tank. The surface of the sphere contacted all the
star systems a days flight ahead of the maximum flight of the stolen
battleship. There weren't too many of these at first and the psiman
could handle them all, calling each in turn and sending by news releases
to the Naval Public Relations officers there. As the sphere kept growing
he started to drop behind, steadily losing ground. By this time I had a
general release prepared, along with directions for use and follow up,
which he sent to Central 14. The battery of psimen there contacted the
individu