easure and advantage, but power used for the sake of controlling the
direction of growth of races and nations, power for its own sake was
the game which was played at that table, its members playing the game
of control against each other and the world for high stakes of greater
control, nursing behind their untelling faces who knows what
megalomaniac dreams of dominion.

Yet they used their control discreetly, serving the public welfare and
keeping the public good-will. When it was possible.

As always Bryce Carter sat relaxed, lazily smiling, his expression not
changing to his thoughts.

"Who knows of this besides us?" someone asked.

The chairman answered mildly. "It was a company statistician in the
publicity department who noticed it. He was looking for favorable
correlations, I believe." His pale blue eyes ranged across their
faces, touching Bryce Carter's face expressionlessly in passing. "I
requested that he tell no one else until I had investigated." He added
apologetically, "Commitments for drug addiction correlate too."

That was worse news. "Narcotics investigators are no fools," someone
said thoughtfully.

* * * * *

Neiswanger, a thin orderly man near the head of the table, pressed his
fingertips together, frowning slightly. "I take it then that our
corporation is being used as a criminal means of large scale smuggling
of drugs, transport of criminals on false identification and transport
for resale of the goods resulting from their thefts. Is that correct?"
Neiswanger always liked to have things neatly listed.

"I think so," said the chairman.

"And you would say that the organization responsible is centered in
this corporation?"

"It would seem likely, yes."

The members of the board stirred uneasily, seeing a blast of
sensational headlines, investigations which would spread to their
private lives, themselves giving repetitive testimony to inquisitive
politicians in a glare of television lights while the Federated
Nations anti-cartel commission vivisected the UT giant into puny,
separate squabbling midgets.

It was not an appealing prospect.

"We'll have to stop it, of course," said a lean, blond man whose name
was Stout. He could be relied on to say the obvious and keep a
discussion driving to the point. "I understand we have a good
detective agency. If we put them on this with payment for speed and
silence--"

"And when we know who is responsible," asked