you want to," Kerk said grimly. "We looked
into that quite carefully before I came to you."

"If you mean to say that I cheat--" Carefully, Jason grabbed his temper
again and held it down. There was no future in getting annoyed.

Kerk continued in the same level voice, ignoring Jason's growing anger.
"Maybe you don't call it cheating, frankly I don't care. As far as I'm
concerned you could have your suit lined with aces and electromagnets in
your boots. As long as you _won_. I'm not here to discuss moral points
with you. I said I had a proposition.

"We have worked hard for that money--but it still isn't enough. To be
precise, we need three billion credits. The only way to get that sum is
by gambling--with these twenty-seven million as bankroll."

"And what do I get out of it?" Jason asked the question coolly, as if
any bit of the fantastic proposition made sense.

"Everything above the three billion you can keep, that should be fair
enough. You're not risking your own money, but you stand to make enough
to keep you for life if you win."

"And if I lose--?"

Kerk thought for a moment, not liking the taste of the idea. "Yes--there
is the chance you might lose, I hadn't thought about that."

He reached a decision. "If you lose--well I suppose that is just a risk
we will have to take. Though I think I would kill you then. The ones who
died to get the twenty-seven million deserve at least that." He said it
quietly, without malice, and it was more of a promise than a threat.

Stamping to his feet Jason refilled his stein and offered one to Kerk
who took it with a nod of thanks. He paced back and forth, unable to
sit. The whole proposition made him angry--yet at the same time had a
fatal fascination. He was a gambler and this talk was like the taste of
drugs to an addict.

Stopping suddenly, he realized that his mind had been made up for some
time. Win or lose--live or die--how could he say no to the chance to
gamble with money like that! He turned suddenly and jabbed his finger at
the big man in the chair.

"I'll do it--you probably knew I would from the time you came in here.
There are some terms of my own, though. I want to know who you are, and
who _they_ are you keep talking about. And where did the money come
from. Is it stolen?"

Kerk drained his own stein and pushed it away from him.

"Stolen money? No, quite the opposite. Two years' work mining and
refining ore to get it. It was mined on Pyrrus and sol