and a cup of coffee, when
I'm through with this?" he asked.

"Well, I don't have any coffee, but you can have one of my
cigarettes," I said.

Then he looked up and gave a whoop. "Walt! How'd you get in here? I
thought they weren't going to let anybody in to see me till this
afternoon."

"Power of the press," I told him. "Bluff, blarney, and blackmail. How
are they treating you?"

"Awful. Look what they gave me for lunch. I thought we were on short
rations down on Hermann Reuch's Land. How's Father?"

"He's all right. They took the splint off, but he still has to carry
his arm in a sling."

"Lucky guy; he can get around on his feet, and I'll bet he isn't
starving, either. You know, speaking about food, I'm going to feel
like a cannibal eating carniculture meat, now. My whole back's
carniculture." He filled his mouth with whatever it was they were
feeding him and asked, through it: "Did I miss Steve Ravick's
hanging?"

I was horrified. "Haven't these people told you anything?" I demanded.

"Nah; they wouldn't even tell me the right time. Afraid it would
excite me."

So I told him; first who Bish Ware really was, and then who Ravick
really was. He gaped for a moment, and then shoveled in more food.

"Go on; what happened?"

I told him how Bish had smuggled Gerrit and Leo Belsher out on Second
Level Down and gotten them to the spaceport, where Courtland's men had
been waiting for them.

"Gerrit's going to Terra, and from there to Loki. They want the
natives to see what happens to a Terran who breaks Terran law; teach
them that our law isn't just to protect us. Belsher's going to Terra,
too. There was a big ship captains' meeting; they voted to reclaim
their wax and sell it individually to Murell, but to retain membership
in the Co-op. They think they'll have to stay in the Co-op to get
anything that's gettable out of Gerrit's and Belsher's money. Oscar
Fujisawa and Cesario Vieira are going to Terra on the _Cape Canaveral_
to start suit to recover anything they can, and also to petition for
reclassification of Fenris. Oscar's coming back on the next ship, but
Cesario's going to stay on as the Co-op representative. I suppose he
and Linda will be getting married."

"Natch. They'll both stay on Terra, I suppose. Hey, whattaya know!
Cesario's getting off Fenris without having to die and reincarnate."

He finished his lunch, such as it was and what there was of it, and I
relieved him of the tray and set it on