Zareff's
opposite number. He thinks this whole thing's a plot against the
Federation. It's a good thing Klem didn't get around to repainting his
combat vehicles black and green, the way he did the Home Guard stuff
at Litchfield."

"I'd be more likely to think it was Vyckhoven."

"Could be. Or it could be the Armageddonists, or Human Supremacy; I am
ashamed to say that this heil-Merlin Cybernarchist gang are friendly
to us. Or it could be some of the banking crowd, or some of these
rival space-companies. Barton-Massarra is trying to find out. Well, we
have some of Wade's pet suspects at Interplanetary Building now.
There's been a meeting going for the last week to partition the Alpha
Gartner System."

The Interplanetary Building had been a medium-class residence hotel at
the time of the War. Junior staff officers and civilian technicians
and their families had lived there. It had been vacant ever since the
disastrous outbreak of peace. Now it had a big new fluorolite sign,
and housed the offices of all the Maxwell companies. There was a
truculent display of anti-vehicle weapons on the top landing stage,
and more Barton-Massarra private police. They looked even more
villainous then the ones at the spaceport. Conn recalled having heard
that most of the Blackie Perales gang had been discharged for lack of
evidence; he wondered how many of them had hired with Barton-Massarra.

The meeting was in a big conference room six floors down; it had been
going on uninterrupted for days, with all the interested companies'
representatives standing watch-and-watch around the clock. Lester
Dawes and Morgan Gatworth and Lorenzo Menardes were there for L. E. &
S.; Transcontinent & Overseas was represented; there were people from
Alpha-Interplanetary, and bankers and financiers, and people from the
companies building the two ships at the spaceport. And J. Fitzwilliam
Sterber, the lawyer.

And reporters, phoning stories in and getting audiovisual interviews
of anybody who would hold still long enough. They converged in a rush
as Conn and his father and Lucas came in.

"No statement, gentlemen!" Rodney Maxwell shouted, above the babble of
their questions. "When we have anything to release, it will be
released to all of you."

Jacquemont and Nichols had already arrived; Lucas went to them and
began talking about stevedores and lifters to get off the cargoes from
the ships. Conn hastened to join them.

"The scanning and mining equip