a
syllable--King Petonar. Where would our friend, Stern, end up?"

Don grinned wolfishly. "Khor Fortress. Even I can figure that much
out."

Masterson stood up and paced around the office.

"So, if we can get Jasu and his son in motion and get them up in the
Morek, something's bound to break. Right?" He stopped in front of Don.

"Oh, of course, Stern might call out the Royal Guard and scream
rebellion. He'd probably do just that, if things went that far. He's
getting in the propaganda groundwork for it now. But what he doesn't
know is that he'd help us that way." He perched on Rayson's desk.

"You see, we've got some colonists that would yell at the top of their
lungs for protection of their interests by the Federation. And then
there would be a conclave--with plenty of supervision. Either way, he'd
get right into checkmate." He clasped one knee in his hands and rocked
back and forth.

"But there's one thing that stands in our way. Jasu Waern's scared to
death. We've never quite dared explain this whole thing to him, and now
no one can get near enough to talk to him. Harle was the clan head and
the one with the nerve. He's gone, and Jasu's holed up. Won't let his
son out of the house. Won't let anyone in. We can't move."

He got back to his feet and walked over to the window.

"Now, let's take some more suppositions. Suppose a flier went out of
control and crashed in the middle of the Waern house. Or suppose some
major criminal took refuge close to the place and decided to shoot it
out with the Enforcement Corps. Seems to be a habit criminals have
gotten into lately. And suppose a stray inductor beam just happened to
graze the Waern living room.

"Then, who's checkmated?"

He looked down at his chair, then walked over and dropped into it.

"There's only one way to get Jasu in motion. You're it. The way you
slammed Rayson back in his chair yesterday gave me an idea. You can get
in there, and you'll have to move him--by force--compulsion--however
you want to.

"Meantime, I'll get some things going. Your father can start the hill
tribes getting together. He knows all the important head men. I'll give
him a little push in that direction. Then, we'll get some more people
to work."

Don looked at him for a moment. "Well, Dad told me I'd probably have to
earn my keep. Anything else I ought to know?"

* * * * *

Jasu Waern looked up in annoyance, then got to his feet.