of a nodding
head in half profile--a near-perfect profile which showed no sign of a
bruise.

"How did that creep get in here?" he snapped. "That's the same character
who tried to nail me at the K.C. airport."

"Yes, sir," said Ty Falter apologetically. He glanced at his skinned
knuckles. "It was like hitting a brick," he said. He shook his head,
added, "Sorry, Mr. Bezdek. I don't know how he got in here."

"Your job is to keep crackpots like that away from me," said the mogul.
He turned and went back inside the compartment. Dorwin was still sitting
as before.

"Eavesdroppers?" the banker inquired with unruffled poise.

"Not likely," said Bezdek, dropping into his seat. "Probably a
movie-crazy kid trying to chisel a screen test."

* * * * *

The incident had brought back his heartburn. He wanted to take a couple
of his pills but not in front of Dorwin. The banker might think he was
cracking up. These damned New Yorkers had no idea of the pressure under
which he labored. He sipped a glass of flat soda water.

"Where were we?" Dorwin said quietly. Somehow to Bezdek he gave the
impression of remorseless rationality. "Oh, yes, these fantasy
movies--we're a little worried about them."

"I thought you might be," said Bezdek, leaning forward and using the
full magnetism of his personality. Now that the issue was out in the
open his discomfort was eased. "Actually we don't think of our
interplanetary cycle as fantasy, Dorwin. We think of them as forecasts
of the future, as prophecy."

"They're still a far cry from reality, or even the usual escapism," said
the banker. "Confidentially, I happen to _know_ that it will be
years--perhaps decades--before we make any live contact with the other
planets. Our national interests demand that we prevent atomic power from
superseding older methods before investments have realized on their
holdings to the fullest extent. And it is upon development of atomic
power that space-flight hinges at present."

"Certainly I understand that--sound business," said Bezdek with his
one-sided smile. "I hope they wait for many years."

Dorwin looked faintly astonished. "From these pictures of yours I must
confess I had derived a totally different impression of your theories,"
he said slowly, flicking two inches of pale grey ash into the silver
tray at his elbow.

"Listen to me," said the movie-maker, again leaning toward his
vis-a-vis. "We're making these pict