assan, but any sort of defeat
and undoubtedly his followers would melt away. The bedouin are too
volatile. Before he ever makes any real headway he will have to take
the major commercial and industrial cities such as Dakar, Kano,
Lagos, Accra, Freetown, Khartoum, and eventually, of course, Cairo,
Casablanca, Algiers and so forth."

"And our friend El Hassan leans not at all in our direction?"

The man the Party called Anton shook his head. "He leans in no
direction, except that which will unite and modernize North Africa.
Neither do his immediate followers. They're a well-knit group and it
seems unlikely that I could pry any of them away from him in case it
became desirable."

"I see," Kirill Menzhinsky muttered. "I understand that a delegation
from Moscow has arrived in El Hassan's camp. Have you contacted them?"

"Certainly not. My orders were to rise in the El Hassan hierarchy and
await further orders. None of my current, ah, colleagues have any
suggestion that I am identified with the Party. Which reminds me, an
American C.I.A. man, Fredric Ostrander, has shown up. The fool seems
to be under the impression that El Hassan is a Party tool."

"I know this Ostrander. Don't underestimate him, Anton. He's an
extremely competent operative in the clutch, as the Americans call
it."

"Perhaps. But nevertheless, there is no indication that the El Hassan
movement leans either to East or West, nor do I see any signs that it
is apt to in the future."

The Russian was scowling. "I see. Then perhaps it will be necessary
for us to do something to topple our El Hassan before he becomes much
stronger, and to find another to unite North Africa."

Anton frowned in his turn. "I don't know. This man Crawford--and his
followers, for that matter--are motivated by high ideals. As you have
said, North Africa is not ready for our socio-economic system. Men of
the caliber of Homer Crawford could bring it into the modern age
perhaps more quickly than another."

Menzhinsky chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Anton. Such matters of
policy will be decided by others than you, or even me. Keep in touch
with me more often, in the future, Anton."

"Yes, Comrade." His face faded from the screen.

* * * * *

Tamanrasset lies at an altitude of approximately 4,600 feet, about
average for the Ahaggar plateau. Around it, such peaks as the Tahat
reach 9,600 feet above sea level. The country is rugged, jagged, bleak