look, Dan."

He bent over, moving the slide to examine another spot. "I think so. The
next one should tell."

There was no doubt about the fourth test. The bugs were dead, without a
single exception that they could find.

One by one, the men were tested and went storming out, shouting the
news. For a minute, the gathering crowd was skeptical, remembering the
other failures. Then, abruptly, men were screaming, crying and fighting
for the precious bracky, like the legions of the damned grabbing for
lottery tickets when the prize was a passport to paradise.

Jake swore as he moved toward the door. "We're low on bracky here. Have
to get a supply from Edison, I guess, and cart it to the shuttle. Enough
for a sample, and to make them want more. It'll be tough, but we'll get
it there in time--by the time the shuttle should be picking you up. Doc,
you've won our war! From now on, if Earth wants to keep her population
up, we'll be a free planet!"

Chris turned slowly from the microscope, holding a slide in her hands.
"My bugs," she said unbelievingly. "Dan, they're dead!"

Jake patted her shoulder. "That makes it perfect, girl. Now come on.
We've got to start celebrating a victory!"

* * * * *

It was the general feeling of most of the heads of the villages when
they met the next day in Southport, using the courtroom that had been
presided over so long by Judge Ben Wilson. It was victory, and to the
victor belonged the spoils. The bracky had gone out to Earth on a
converted war rocket that could make the trip in less than two weeks,
and one packet had been specially labeled for Captain Everts. But Earth
had already confirmed the cure. The small amounts of the herb found in
the botanical collections had been enough to satisfy all doubts.

Harkness, Chris and Doc had been fighting against the desire to rob
Earth blind that filled most of the men here for hours now. Now they had
the backing of Jake and Ben Wilson. And now finally they leaned back,
sensing that the argument had been won.

Bargaining was all right in its place, but it had no place in affairs of
life and death such as this. They had to see that Earth received all the
bracky she needed. It was only right to charge a fair price for it, but
they couldn't restrict it by withholding or overcharging. And they could
still gain their ends without blackmail.

Martian alkaloids were tricky things, and bracky smoke contained a
number