Watch The Sky It's one thing to try to get away with what you believe to be a lie and be caught at it-- and something different, and far worse sometimes, to find it isn't a lie ... by James H. Schmitz Illustrated by Hortens [Illustration] Uncle William Boles' war-battered old Geest gun gave the impression thatat some stage of its construction it had been pulled out of shape andthen hardened in that form. What remained of it was all of one piece. The scarred and pitted twin barrels were stubby and thick, and thevacant oblong in the frame behind them might have contained standardenergy magazines. It was the stock which gave the alien weapon itscurious appearance. Almost eighteen inches long, it curved abruptly tothe right and was too thin, knobbed and indented to fit comfortably atany point in a human hand. Over half a century had passed since, withthe webbed, boneless fingers of its original owner closed about it, itlast spat deadly radiation at human foemen. Now it hung among UncleWilliam's other collected oddities on the wall above the living roomfireplace. And today, Phil Boles thought, squinting at the gun with reflectivelynarrowed eyes, some eight years after Uncle William's death, the old warsouvenir would quietly become a key factor in the solution of a colonialplanet's problems. He ran a finger over the dull, roughened frame, bentcloser to study the neatly lettered inscription: GUNDERLAND BATTLETROPHY, ANNO 2172, SGT. WILLIAM G. BOLES. Then, catching a familiarseries of clicking noises from the hall, he straightened quickly andturned away. When Aunt Beulah's go-chair came rolling back into theroom, Phil was sitting at the low tea table, his back to the fireplace. The go-chair's wide flexible treads carried it smoothly down the threesteps to the sunken section of the living room, Beulah sitting jauntilyerect in it, for all the ninety-six years which had left her the lastsurvivor of the original group of Earth settlers on the world of Roye. She tapped her fingers here and there on the chair's armrests, swingingit deftly about, and brought it to a stop beside the tea table. "That was Susan Feeney calling, " she reported. "And _there_ is somebodyelse for you who thinks I have to be taken care of! Go ahead and finishthe pie, Phil. Can't hurt a husky man like you. Got a couple more bakingfor you to take along. " Phil grinned. "That'd be worth the trip up from Fort Roye all byitself. " Beulah looked pleased. "Not much else I can do for my great-grand nephewnowadays, is there?" Phil said, after a moment, "Have you given any further thought to--" "Moving down to Fort Roye?" Beulah pursed her thin lips. "Goodness, Phil, I do hate to disappoint you again, but I'd be completely out ofplace in a town apartment. " "Dr. Fitzsimmons would be pleased, " Phil remarked. "Oh, him! Fitz is another old worry wart. What he wants is to get meinto the hospital. Nothing doing!" Phil shook his head helplessly, laughed. "After all, working a tuparanch--" "Nonsense. The ranch is just enough bother to be interesting. Theappliances do everything anyway, and Susan is down here every morningfor a chat and to make sure I'm still all right. She won't admit that, of course, but if she thinks something should be taken care of, thewhole Feeney family shows up an hour later to do it. There's really noreason for you to be sending a dozen men up from Fort Roye every twomonths to harvest the tupa. " Phil shrugged. "No one's ever yet invented an easy way to dig up thoseroots. And the CLU's glad to furnish the men. " "Because you're its president?" "Uh-huh. " "It really doesn't cost you anything?" Beulah asked doubtfully. "Not a cent. " * * * "Hm-m-m. Been meaning to ask you. What made you set up that ... ColonialLabor Union?" Phil nodded. "That's the official name. " "Why did you set it up in the first place?" "That's easy to answer, " Phil said. "On the day the planetary populationhere touched the forty thousand mark, Roye became legally entitled toits labor union. Why not take advantage of it?" "What's the advantage?" "More Earth money coming in, for one thing. Of the twelve hundred CLUmembers we've got in Fort Roye now, seventy-six per cent were unemployedthis month. We'll have a compensation check from the Territorial Officewith the next ship coming in. " He smiled at her expression. "Sure, theboys _could_ go back to the tupa ranches. But not everyone likes thatlife as well as you and the Feeneys. " "Earth government lets you get away with it?" Beulah asked curiously. "They used to be pretty tight-fisted. " "They still are--but it's the law. The Territorial Office also pays anyCLU president's salary, incidentally. I don't draw too much at themoment, but that will go up automatically with the membership and myresponsibilities. " "What responsibilities?" "We've set up a skeleton organization, " Phil explained. "Now, when Earthgovernment decides eventually to establish a big military base here, they can run in a hundred thousand civilians in a couple of months andeveryone will be fitted into the pattern on Roye without trouble orconfusion. That's really the reason for all the generosity. " Beulah sniffed. "Big base, my eye! There hasn't been six months since Iset foot here that somebody wasn't talking about Fort Roye being turnedinto a Class A military base pretty soon. It'll never happen, Phil. Roye's a farm planet, and that's what it's going to stay. " Phil's lips twitched. "Well, don't give up hope. " "_I'm_ not anxious for any changes, " Beulah said. "I like Roye the wayit is. " She peered at a button on the go-chair's armrest which had just begun toput out small bright-blue flashes of light. "Pies are done, " sheannounced. "Phil, are you sure you can't stay for dinner?" Phil looked at his watch, shook his head. "I'd love to, but I reallyhave to get back. " "Then I'll go wrap up the pies for you. " Beulah swung the go-chair around, sent it slithering up the stairs andout the door. Phil stood up quickly. He stepped over to the fireplace, opened his coat and detached a flexible, box-shaped object from theinner lining. He laid this object on the mantle, and turned one of threesmall knobs about its front edge to the right. The box promptly extrudeda supporting leg from each of its four corners, pushed itself up fromthe mantle and became a miniature table. Phil glanced at the doorthrough which Beulah had vanished, listened a moment, then took theGeest gun from the wall, laid it carefully on top of the device andtwisted the second dial. The odd-looking gun began to sink slowly down through the surface ofPhil's instrument, like a rock disappearing in mud. Within seconds itvanished completely; then, a moment later, it began to emerge from thebox's underside. Phil let the Geest gun drop into his hand, replaced iton the wall, turned the third knob. The box withdrew its supports andsank down to the mantle. Phil clipped it back inside his coat, closedthe coat, and strolled over to the center of the room to wait for AuntBeulah to return with the pies. * * * * * It was curious, Phil Boles reflected as his aircar moved out over thecraggy, plunging coastline to the north some while later, that a fewbold minds could be all that was needed to change the fate of a world. Afew minds with imagination enough to see how circumstances about themmight be altered. On his left, far below, was now the flat ribbon of the peninsula, almostat sea level, its tip widening and lifting into the broad, rockypromontory on which stood Fort Roye--the only thing on the planet biggerand of more significance than the shabby backwoods settlements. And FortRoye was neither very big nor very significant. A Class F military basearound which, over the years, a straggling town had come into existence, Fort Roye was a space-age trading post linking Roye's population to themighty mother planet, and a station from which the otherwise vacant andutterly unimportant 132nd Segment of the Space Territories wasperiodically and uneventfully patrolled. It was no more than that. Twicea month, an Earth ship settled down to the tiny port, bringing supplies, purchases, occasional groups of reassigned military and civilians--thelatter suspected of being drawn as a rule from Earth's Undesirableclassification. The ship would take off some days later, with a returnload of the few local products for which there was outside demand, primarily the medically valuable tupa roots; and Fort Roye lay quietagain. The planet was not at fault. Essentially, it had what was needed tobecome a thriving colony in every sense. At fault was the Geest War. Thewar had periods of flare-up and periods in which it seemed to besubsiding. During the past decade it had been subsiding again. One ofthe early flare-ups, one of the worst, and the one which brought the warclosest to Earth itself, was the Gunderland Battle in which UncleWilliam Boles' trophy gun had been acquired. But the war never came nearRoye. The action was all in the opposite section of the giant sphere ofthe Space Territories, and over the years the war drew steadily fartheraway. And Earth's vast wealth--its manpower, materials and money--was pouringinto space in the direction the Geest War was moving. Worlds not a tenthas naturally attractive as Roye, worlds where the basic conditions forhuman life were just above the unbearable point, were settled and held, equipped with everything needed and wanted to turn them into independentgiant fortresses, with a population not too dissatisfied with its lot. When Earth government didn't count the expense, life could be madeconsiderably better than bearable almost anywhere. Those were the circumstances which condemned Roye to insignificance. Noteveryone minded. Phil Boles, native son, did mind. His inclinations werethose of an operator, and he was not being given an adequate opportunityto exercise them. Therefore, the circumstances would have to be changed, and the precise time to make the change was at hand. Phil himself wasnot aware of every factor involved, but he was aware of enough of them. Back on Earth, a certain political situation was edging towards aspecific point of instability. As a result, an Earth ship which was notone of the regular freighters had put down at Fort Roye some daysbefore. Among its passengers were Commissioner Sanford of theTerritorial Office, a well-known politician, and a Mr. Ronald Black, thepopular and enterprising owner of Earth's second largest news outletsystem. They were on a joint fact-finding tour of the thinly scatteredcolonies in this remote section of the Territories, and had wound upeventually at the most remote of all--the 132nd Segment and Roye. That was one factor. Just visible twenty thousand feet belowPhil--almost directly beneath him now as the aircar made its thirdleisurely crossing of the central belt of the peninsula--was another. From here it looked like an irregular brown circle against thepeninsula's nearly white ground. Lower down, it would have resemblednothing so much as the broken and half-decayed spirals of a giganticsnail shell, its base sunk deep in the ground and its shattered pointrearing twelve stories above it. This structure, known popularly as "theruins" in Fort Roye, was supposed to have been the last stronghold of asemi-intelligent race native to Roye, which might have become extinctbarely a century before the Earthmen arrived. A factor associated withthe ruins again was that their investigation was the passionatelypursued hobby of First Lieutenant Norman Vaughn, Fort Roye's ScienceOfficer. Add to such things the reason Roye was not considered in need of aserious defensive effort by Earth's strategists--the vast distancesbetween it and any troubled area, and so the utter improbability that aGeest ship might come close enough to discover that here was anotherworld as well suited for its race as for human beings. And then a finalfactor: the instrument attached to the lining of Phil's coat--a veryspecial "camera" which now carried the contact impressions made on it byUncle William's souvenir gun. Put 'em all together, Phil thoughtcheerily, and they spelled out interesting developments on Roye in thevery near future. He glanced at his watch again, swung the aircar about and started backinland. He passed presently high above Aunt Beulah's tupa ranch and thatof the Feeney family two miles farther up the mountain, turned graduallyto the east and twenty minutes later was edging back down the ranges tothe coast. Here in a wild, unfarmed region, perched at the edge of acliff dropping nearly nine hundred feet to the swirling tide, was asmall, trim cabin which was the property of a small, trim Fort Roye ladynamed Celia Adams. Celia had been shipped out from Earth six yearsbefore, almost certainly as an Undesirable, though only the TerritorialOffice and Celia herself knew about that, the Botany Bay aspect ofworlds like Roye being handled with some tact by Earth. * * * Phil approached the cabin only as far as was necessary to make sure thatthe dark-green aircar parked before it was one belonging to Major WayneJackson, the Administration Officer and second in command at FortRoye--another native son and an old acquaintance. He then turned away, dropped to the woods ten miles south and made a second inconspicuousapproach under cover of the trees. There might be casual observers inthe area, and while his meeting with Jackson and Celia Adams todayrevealed nothing in itself, it would be better if no one knew about it. He grounded the car in the forest a few hundred yards from the Adamscabin, slung a rifle over his shoulder and set off along a game path. Itwas good hunting territory, and the rifle would explain his presence ifhe ran into somebody. When he came within view of the cabin, hediscovered Celia and her visitor on the covered back patio, drinksstanding before them. Jackson was in hunting clothes. Phil remainedquietly back among the trees for some seconds watching the two, aware ofsomething like a last-minute hesitancy. A number of things passed slowlythrough his mind. What they planned to do was no small matter. It was a hoax which shouldhave far-reaching results, on a gigantic scale. And if Earth governmentrealized it had been hoaxed, the thing could become very unpleasant. That tough-minded central bureaucracy did not ordinarily bother toobtain proof against those it suspected. The suspicion was enough. Individuals and groups whom the shadow of doubt touched found themselvesshunted unobtrusively into some backwater of existence and kept there. It was supposed to be very difficult to emerge from such a positionagain. In the back of his mind, Phil had been conscious of that, but it hadseemed an insignificant threat against the excitement arising from thegrandiose impudence of the plan, the perhaps rather small-boyish delightat being able to put something over, profitably, on the greatest powerof all. Even now it might have been only a natural wariness that broughtthe threat up for a final moment of reflection. He didn't, of course, want to incur Earth government's disapproval. But why believe that hemight? On all Roye there would be only three who knew--Wayne Jackson, Celia Adams, and himself. All three would benefit, each in a differentway, and all would be equally responsible for the hoax. No chance ofindiscretion or belated qualms there. Their own interest ruled it out ineach case. And from the other men now involved there was as little danger ofbetrayal. Their gain would be vastly greater, but they hadcorrespondingly more to lose. They would take every step required toinsure their protection, and in doing that they would necessarily takethe best of care of Phil Boles. * * * * * "How did you ever get such a thing smuggled in to Roye?" Phil asked. He'd swallowed half the drink Celia offered him at a gulp and now, a fewminutes later, he was experiencing what might have been under differentcircumstances a comfortable glow, but which didn't entirely erase theawareness of having committed himself at this hour to an irrevocableline of action. Celia stroked a fluffy lock of red-brown hair back from her forehead andglanced over at him. She had a narrow, pretty face, marred only by asuggestion of hardness about the mouth--which was a little more thanordinarily noticeable just now. Phil decided she felt something like hisown tensions, for identical reasons. He was less certain about MajorWayne Jackson, a big, loose-jointed man with an easy-going smile and apleasantly self-assured voice. The voice might be veering a trifle toofar to the hearty side; but that was all. "I didn't, " Celia said. "It belonged to Frank. How he got it shipped inwith him--or after him--from Earth I don't know. He never told me. Whenhe died a couple of years ago, I took it over. " Phil gazed reflectively at the row of unfamiliar instruments coveringhalf the table beside her. The "camera" which had taken an imprint ofthe Geest gun in Aunt Beulah's living room went with that equipment andhad become an interior section of the largest of the instruments. "Whatdo you call it?" he asked. Celia looked irritated. Jackson laughed, said, "Why not tell him? Phil'sfeeling like we do--this is the last chance to look everything over, make sure nobody's slipped up, that nothing can go wrong. Right, Phil?" Phil nodded. "Something like that. " Celia chewed her lip. "All right, " she said. "It doesn't matter, Isuppose--compared with the other. " She tapped one of the instruments. "The set's called a duplicator. This one's around sixty years old. They're classified as a forgery device, and it's decidedly illegal for aprivate person to build one, own one, or use one. " "Why that?" "Because forgery is ordinarily all they're good for. Frank was one ofthe best of the boys in that line before he found he'd been put on anouttransfer list. " Phil frowned. "But if it can duplicate any manufactured object--" "It can. At an average expense around fifty times higher than it wouldtake to make an ordinary reproduction without it. A duplicator's no useunless you want a reproduction that's absolutely indistinguishable fromthe model. " "I see. " Phil was silent a moment. "After sixty years--" "Don't worry, Phil, " Jackson said. "It's in perfect working condition. We checked that on a number of samples. " "How do you know the copies were really indistinguishable?" Celia said impatiently, "Because that's the way the thing works. Whenthe Geest gun passed through the model plate, it was analyzed down toits last little molecule. The duplicate is now being built up from thatanalysis. Every fraction of every element used in the original will showup again exactly. Why do you think the stuff's so expensive?" * * * Phil grinned. "All right, I'm convinced. How do we get rid of theinscription?" "The gadget will handle that, " Jackson said. "Crack that edge off, treatthe cracked surface to match the wear of the rest. " He smiled. "Makes anEarth forger's life look easy, doesn't it?" "It is till they hook you, " Celia said shortly. She finished her drink, set it on the table, added, "We've a few questions, too, Phil. " "The original gun, " Jackson said. "Mind you, there's no slightest reasonto expect an investigation. But after this starts rolling, our neckswill be out just a little until we've got rid of that particular bit ofincriminating evidence. " Phil pursed his lips. "I wouldn't worry about it. Nobody but Beulah everlooks at Uncle William's collection of oddities. Most of it's completetrash. And probably only she and you and I know there's a Geest gunamong the things--William's cronies all passed away before he did. Butif the gun disappeared now, Beulah would miss it. And that--since Earthgovernment's made it illegal to possess Geest artifacts--_might_ createattention. " Jackson fingered his chin thoughtfully, said, "Of course, there'salways a way to make sure Beulah didn't kick up a fuss. " Phil hesitated. "Dr. Fitzsimmons gives Beulah another three months atthe most, " he said. "If she can stay out of the hospital for even thenext eight weeks, he'll consider it some kind of miracle. That should beearly enough to take care of the gun. " "It should be, " Jackson said. "However, if there does happen to be aninvestigation before that time--" Phil looked at him, said evenly, "We'd do whatever was necessary. Itwouldn't be very agreeable, but my neck's out just as far as yours. " Celia laughed. "That's the reason we can all feel pretty safe, " sheobserved. "Every last one of us is completely selfish--and there's nomore dependable kind of person than that. " Jackson flushed a little, glanced at Phil, smiled. Phil shrugged. MajorWayne Jackson, native son, Fort Roye's second in command, was scheduledfor the number one spot and a string of promotions via the transfer ofthe current commander, Colonel Thayer. Their Earthside associates wouldarrange for that as soon as the decision to turn Fort Roye into a ClassA military base was reached. Phil himself could get by with theguaranteed retention of the CLU presidency, and a membership moving upyear by year to the half million mark and beyond--he could get by very, very comfortably, in fact. While Celia Adams would develop a discreetlyfirm hold on every upcoming minor racket, facilitated by iron-cladprotection and an enforced lack of all competitors. "We're all thinking of Roye's future, Celia, " Phil said amiably, "eachin his own way. And the future looks pretty bright. In fact, the onlypossible stumbling block I can still see is right here on Roye, and it'sHonest Silas Thayer. If our colonel covers up the Geest gun findtomorrow--" Jackson grinned, shook his head. "Leave that to me, my boy--and to ourvery distinguished visitors from Earth. Commissioner Sanford hasarranged to be in Thayer's company on Territorial Office business allday tomorrow. Science Officer Vaughn is dizzy with delight becauseRonald Black and most of the newsgathering troop will inspect hisdiggings in the ruins in the morning, with the promise of giving histheories about the vanished natives of Roye a nice spread on Earth. Black will happen to ask me to accompany the party. Between Black andSanford--and myself--Colonel Silas Thayer won't have a chance tosuppress the discovery of a Geest gun on Roye until the military has hada chance to look into it fully. And the only one he can possibly blamefor that will be Science Officer Norm Vaughn--for whom, I'll admit, Ifeel just a little bit sorry!" * * * * * First Lieutenant Norman Vaughn was an intense and frustrated young manwhose unusually thick contact lenses and wide mouth gave him someresemblance to a melancholy frog. He suspected, correctly, that a goodScience Officer would not have been transferred from Earth to Roye whichwas a planet deficient in scientific problems of any magnitude, andwhere requisitions for research purposes were infrequently andgrudgingly granted. The great spiraled ruin on the peninsula of Fort Roye had been Vaughn'sone solace. Several similar deserted structures were known to be on theplanet, but this was by far in the best condition and no doubt the mostrecently built. To him, if to no one else, it became clear that theconstruction had been carried out with conscious plan and purpose, andhe gradually amassed great piles of notes to back up his theory that thevanished builders were of near-human intelligence. Unfortunately, theirbodies appeared to have lacked hard and durable parts, since nothingthat could be construed as their remains was found; and what LieutenantVaughn regarded as undeniable artifacts, on the level of very earlyMan's work, looked to others like chance shards and lumps of the tough, shell-like material of which the ruins were composed. Therefore, while Vaughn was--as Jackson had pointed out--really dizzywith delight when Ronald Black, that giant of Earth's news media, firstindicated an interest in the ruins and his theories about them, thisfeeling soon became mixed with acute anxiety. For such a chance surelywould not come again if the visitors remained unconvinced by what heshowed them, and what--actually--did he have to show? In the morning, when the party set out, Vaughn was in a noticeably nervous frame ofmind. Two hours later, he burst into the anteroom of the base commander'soffice in Fort Roye, where the warrant on duty almost failed torecognize him. Lieutenant Vaughn's eyes glittered through their thicklenses; his face was red and he was grinning from ear to ear. He poundedpast the startled warrant, pulled open the door to the inner officewhere Colonel Thayer sat with the visiting Territorial Commissioner, andplunged inside. "Sir, " the warrant heard him quaver breathlessly, "I have the proof--theundeniable proof! They _were_ intelligent beings. They did _not_ die ofdisease. They were exterminated in war! They were ... But see foryourself!" There was a thud as he dropped something on the polishedtable top between the commissioner and Colonel Thayer. "_That_ was dugup just now--among their own artifacts!" Silas Thayer was on his feet, sucking in his breath for the blast thatwould hurl his blundering Science Officer back out of the office. Whathalted him was an odd, choked exclamation from Commissioner Sanford. Thecolonel's gaze flicked over to the visitor, then followed Sanford'sstare to the object on the table. For an instant, Colonel Thayer froze. Vaughn was bubbling on. "And, sir, I ... " "Shut up!" Thayer snapped. He continued immediately, "You say this wasfound in the diggings in the ruins?" [Illustration] "Yes, sir--just now! It's ... " Lieutenant Vaughn checked himself under the colonel's stare, somedawning comprehension of the enormous irregularities he'd committedshowing in his flushed face. He licked his lips uncertainly. "You will excuse me for a moment, sir, " Thayer said to CommissionerSanford. He picked the Geest gun up gingerly by its unmistakably curvedshaft, took it over to the office safe, laid it inside and relocked thesafe. He then left the office. * * * In an adjoining room, Thayer rapped out Major Wayne Jackson's codenumber on a communicator. He heard a faint click as Jackson's wristspeaker switched on, and said quickly, "Wayne, are you in a position tospeak?" "I am at the moment, " Jackson's voice replied cautiously. Colonel Thayer said, "Norm Vaughn just crashed in here with something heclaims was found in the diggings. Sanford saw it, and obviouslyrecognized it. We might be able to keep him quiet. But now somequestions. Was that item actually dug up just now?" "Apparently it was, " Jackson said. "I didn't see it happen--I wastalking to Black at the moment. But there are over a dozen witnesses whoclaim they did see it happen, including five or six of the news agencymen. " "And they knew what it was?" "Enough of them did. " Thayer cursed softly. "No chance that one of them pitched the thing intothe diggings for an Earthside sensation?" "I'm afraid not, " Jackson said. "It was lying in the sifter after mostof the sand and dust had been blown away. " "Why didn't you call me at once?" "I've been holding down something like a mutiny here, Silas. Vaughn gotaway before I could stop him, but I grounded the other aircars till youcould decide what to do. Our visitors don't like that. Neither do theylike the fact that I've put a guard over the section where the find wasmade, and haven't let them talk to Norm's work crew. "Ronald Black and his staff have been fairly reasonable, but there'sbeen considerable mention of military highhandedness made by the others. This is the first moment I've been free. " "You did the right thing, " Thayer said, "but I doubt it will help muchnow. Can you get hold of Ronald Black?" "Yes, he's over there ... " "Colonel Thayer?" another voice inquired pleasantly a few seconds later. "Mr. Black, " the colonel said carefully, "what occurred in the diggingsa short while ago may turn out to be a matter of great importance. " "That's quite obvious, sir. " "And that being the case, " the colonel went on, "do you believe it wouldbe possible to obtain a gentleman's agreement from all witnesses tomake no mention of this apparent discovery until the information isreleased through the proper channels? I'm asking for your opinion. " "Colonel Thayer, " Ronald Black's voice said, still pleasantly, "myopinion is that the only way you could keep the matter quiet is toarrest every civilian present, including myself, and hold usincommunicado. You have your duty, and we have ours. Ours does notinclude withholding information from the public which may signal thegreatest shift in the conduct of the Geest War in the past two decades. " "I understand, " Thayer said. He was silent for some seconds, and perhapshe, too, was gazing during that time at a Fort Roye of the future--aClass A military base under his command, with Earth's great war vesselslined up along the length of the peninsula. "Mr. Black, " he said, "please be so good as to give your colleagues thisword from me. I shall make the most thorough possible investigation ofwhat has occurred and forward a prompt report, along with any materialevidence obtained, to my superiors on Earth. None of you will receiveany other statement from me or from anyone under my command. An attemptto obtain such a statement will, in fact, result in the arrest of theperson or persons involved. Is that clear?" "Quite clear, Colonel Thayer, " Ronald Black said softly. "And entirelysatisfactory. " * * * * * "We have known for the past eight weeks, " the man named Cranehart said, "that this was not what it appears to be ... That is, a section of aGeest weapon. " He shoved the object in question across the desk towards CommissionerSanford and Ronald Black. Neither of the two attempted to pick it up;they glanced at it, then returned their eyes attentively to Cranehart'sface. "It is, of course, an excellent copy, " Cranehart went on, "produced witha professional forger's equipment. As I imagine you're aware, thatshould have made it impossible to distinguish from the original weapon. However ... There's no real harm in telling you this now ... Geesttechnology has taken somewhat different turns than our own. In theirweapons they employ traces of certain elements which we are onlybeginning to learn to maintain in stable form. That is a matter yourgovernment has kept from public knowledge because we don't wish theGeests to learn from human prisoners how much information we are gainingfrom them. "The instrument which made this copy naturally did not have suchelements at its disposal. So it employed their lower homologues and inthat manner successfully produced an almost identical model. In fact, the only significant difference is that such a gun, if it had been acomplete model, could not possibly have been fired. " He smiled briefly. "But that, I think you will agree, _is_ a significant difference! Weknew as soon as the so-called Geest gun was examined that it could onlyhave been made by human beings. " "Then, " Commissioner Sanford said soberly, "its apparent discovery onRoye during our visit was a deliberate hoax--" Cranehart nodded. "Of course. " Ronald Black said, "I fail to see why you've kept this quiet. Youneedn't have given away any secrets. Meanwhile the wave of publiccriticism at the government's seeming hesitancy to take action on thediscovery--that is, to rush protection to the threatened TerritorialSegments--has reached almost alarming proportions. You could havestopped it before it began two months ago with a single announcement. " "Well, yes, " Cranehart said. "There were other considerations. Incidentally, Mr. Black, we are not unappreciative of the fact that thenews media under your own control exercised a generous restraint in thematter. " "For which, " Black said dryly, "I am now very thankful. " "As for the others, " Cranehart went on, "the government has survivedperiods of criticism before. That is not important. The important thingis that the Geest War has been with us for more than a human life spannow ... And it becomes difficult for many to bear in mind that until itsconclusion no acts that might reduce our ability to prosecute it can betolerated. " Ronald Black said slowly, "So you've been delaying the announcementuntil you could find out who was responsible for the hoax. " "We were interested, " Cranehart said, "only in the important men--thedangerous men. We don't care much who else is guilty of what. This, yousee, is a matter of expediency, not of justice. " He looked for a momentat the politely questioning, somewhat puzzled faces across the desk, went on, "When you leave this room, each of you will be conducted to anoffice where you will be given certain papers to sign. That is the firststep. " * * * There was silence for some seconds. Ronald Black took a cigarette from aplatinum case, tapped it gently on the desk, put it to his mouth and litit. Cranehart went on, "It would have been impossible to unravel thisparticular conspiracy if the forgery had been immediately exposed. Atthat time, no one had taken any obvious action. Then, within a fewdays--with the discovery apparently confirmed by our silence--normalmaneuverings in industry and finance were observed to be under way. If amajor shift in war policy was pending, if one or more key bases were tobe established in Territorial Segments previously considered beyond therange of Geest reconnaissance and therefore secure from attack, thiswould be to somebody's benefit on Earth. " "Isn't it always?" Black murmured. "Of course. It's a normal procedure, ordinarily of no concern togovernment. It can be predicted with considerable accuracy to whatgroup or groups the ultimate advantage in such a situation will go. Butin these past weeks, it became apparent that somebody else was winningout ... Somebody who could have won out only on the basis of careful andextensive preparation for this very situation. "That was abnormal, and it was the appearance of an abnormal pattern forwhich we had been waiting. We find there are seven men involved. Thesemen will be deprived of the advantage they have gained. " Ronald Black shook his head, said, "You're making a mistake, Cranehart. I'm signing no papers. " "Nor I, " Sanford said thickly. Cranehart rubbed the side of his nose with a fingertip, saidmeditatively, "You won't be forced to. Not directly. " He nodded at thewindow. "On the landing flange out there is an aircar. It is possiblethat this aircar will be found wrecked in the mountains some fourhundred miles north of here early tomorrow morning. Naturally, we have asatisfactory story prepared to cover such an eventuality. " Sanford whitened slowly. He said, "So you'd resort to murder!" Cranehart was silent for a few seconds. "Mr. Sanford, " he said then, "you, as a member of the Territorial Office, know very well that theGeest War has consumed over four hundred million human lives to date. That is the circumstance which obliges your government to insist on yourco-operation. I advise you to give it. " "But you have no proof! You have nothing but surmises--" "Consider this, " Cranehart said. "A conspiracy of the type I havedescribed constitutes a capital offense under present conditions. Areyou certain that you would prefer us to continue to look for proof?" Ronald Black said in a harsh voice, "And what would the outcome be if wedid choose to co-operate?" "Well, we can't afford to leave men of your type in a position ofinfluence, Mr. Black, " Cranehart said amiably. "And you understand, I'msure, that it would be entirely too difficult to keep you under propersurveillance on Earth--" * * * * * Celia Adams said from outside the cabin door, "I think it is them, Phil. Both cars have started to circle. " Phil Boles came to the door behind her and looked up. It was earlyevening--Roye's sun just down, and a few stars out. The sky above thesea was still light. After a moment, he made out the two aircars movingin a wide, slow arc far overhead. He glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes late, " he remarked. "But it couldn't be anyone else. Andif they hadn't all come along, they wouldn't have needed two cars. " Hehesitated. "We can't tell how they're going to take this, Celia, butthey may have decided already that they could make out better withoutus. " He nodded towards the edge of the cliff. "Short way over there, and a long drop to the water! So don't let them surprise you. " She said coldly, "I won't. And I've used guns before this. " "Wouldn't doubt it. " Phil reached back behind the door, picked up aflarelight standing beside a heavy machine rifle, and came outside. Hepointed the light at the cars and touched the flash button briefly threetimes. After a moment, there were two answering flashes from the leadingcar. "So Wayne Jackson's in the front car, " Phil said. "Now let's see whatthey do. " He returned the light to its place behind the door and cameout again, standing about twelve feet to one side of Celia. The aircarsvanished inland, came back at treetop level a few minutes later. Onesettled down quietly between the cabin and the edge of the cliff, theother following but dropping to the ground a hundred yards away, whereit stopped. Phil glanced over at Celia, said softly, "Watch that one!"She nodded almost imperceptibly, right hand buried in her jacket pocket. The near door of the car before them opened. Major Wayne Jackson, hatless and in hunting clothes, climbed out, staring at them. He said, "Anyone else here?" "Just Celia and myself, " Phil said. Jackson turned, spoke into the car and two men, similarly dressed, cameout behind him. Phil recognized Ronald Black and Sanford. The threestarted over to the cabin, stopped a dozen feet away. Jackson said sardonically, "Our five other previous Earthside partnersare in the second car. In spite of your insistence to meet the wholegroup, they don't want you and Celia to see their faces. They don't wishto be identifiable. " He touched his coat lapel. "They'll hear what we'resaying over this communicator and they could talk to you, but won'tunless they feel it's necessary. You'll have to take my word for it thatwe're all present. " "That's good enough, " Phil said. "All right, " Jackson went on, "now what did you mean by forcing us totake this chance? Let me make it plain. Colonel Thayer hasn't beenaccused of collaborating in the Roye gun hoax, but he got a black eyeout of the affair just the same. And don't forget that a planet withcolonial status is technically under martial law, which includes thecivilians. If Silas Thayer can get his hands on the guilty persons, thesituation will become a lot more unpleasant than it already is. " * * * Phil addressed Ronald Black, "Then how about you two? When you showed uphere again on a transfer list, Thayer must have guessed why. " Black shook his head. "Both of us exercised the privilege of changingour names just prior to the outtransfer. He doesn't know we're on Roye. We don't intend to let him find out. " Phil asked, "Did you make any arrangements to get out of Roye again?" "Before leaving Earth?" Black showed his teeth in a humorless smile. "Boles, you have no idea of how abruptly and completely the governmentmen cut us off from our every resource! We were given no opportunity todraw up plans to escape from exile, believe me. " Phil glanced over at Celia. "In that case, " he said, a little thickly, "we'd better see if we can't draw some up together immediately. " Jackson asked, staring, "What are you talking about, Phil? Don't thinkfor a moment Silas Thayer isn't doing what he can to find out who putthat trick over on him. I'm not at all sure he doesn't suspect me. Andif he can tie it to us, it's our neck. If you have some crazy idea ofgetting off the planet now, let me tell you that for the next few yearswe can't risk making a single move! If we stay quiet, we're safe. We--" "I don't think we'd be safe, " Phil said. On his right, Celia Adams added sharply, "The gentleman in the other carwho's just started to lower that window had better raise it again! Ifhe's got good eyesight, he'll see I have a gun pointed at him. Yes, that's much better! Go on, Phil. " "Have you both gone out of your minds?" Jackson demanded. "No, " Celia said. She laughed with a sudden shakiness in her tone, added, "Though I don't know why we haven't! We've thought of thepossibility that the rest of you might feel it would be better if Philand I weren't around any more, Wayne. " "That's nonsense!" Jackson said. "Maybe. Anyway, don't try it. You wouldn't be doing yourselves a favoreven if it worked. Better listen now. " "Listen to what?" Jackson demanded exasperatedly. "I'm telling you itwill be all right, if we just don't make any mistakes. The only realpieces of evidence were your duplicator and the original gun. Sincewe're rid of those--" "We're not rid of the gun, Wayne, " Phil said. "I still have it. Ihaven't dared get rid of it. " "You ... What do you mean?" "I was with Beulah in the Fort Roye hospital when she died, " Phil said. He added to Ronald Black, "That was two days after the ship brought theseven of you in. " Black nodded, his eyes alert. "Major Jackson informed me. " "She was very weak, of course, but quite lucid, " Phil went on. "Shetalked a good deal--reminiscing, and in a rather happy vein. She finallymentioned the Geest gun, and how Uncle William used to keep us boys ... Wayne and me ... Spell-bound with stories about the Gunderland Battle, and how he'd picked the gun up there. " Jackson began, "And what does--" "He didn't get the gun there, " Phil said. "Beulah said Uncle Williamcame in from Earth with the first shipment of settlers and was never offRoye again in his life. " "He ... Then--" Phil said, "Don't you get it? He found the gun right here on Roye. Beulah thought it was awfully funny. William was an old fool, she said, but the best liar she'd ever known. He came in with the thing one dayafter he'd been traipsing around the back country, and said it looked'sort of' like pictures of Geest guns he'd seen, and that he was goingto put the inscription on it and have some fun now and then. " Phil tooka deep breath. "Uncle William found it lying in a pile of ashes wheresomeone had made camp a few days before. He figured it would have been aplanetary speedster some rich sportsmen from Earth had brought in for ataste of outworld hunting on Roye, and that one of them had dumped thebroken oddball gun into the fire to get rid of it. "That was thirty-six years ago. Beulah remembered it happened a yearbefore I was born. " There was silence for some seconds. Then Ronald Black said evenly, "Andwhat do you conclude, Boles?" Phil looked at him. "I'd conclude that Norm Vaughn was right about therehaving been some fairly intelligent creatures here once. The Geests raninto them and exterminated them as they usually do. That might have beena couple of centuries back. Then, thirty-six years ago, one of theirscouts slipped in here without being spotted, found human beings on theplanet, looked around a little and left again. " He took the Geest gun from his pocket, hefted it in his hand. "We havethe evidence here, " he said. "We had it all the time and didn't knowit. " Ronald Black said dryly, "We may have the evidence. But we have noslightest proof at all now that that's what it is. " "I know it, " Phil said. "Now Beulah's gone ... Well, we couldn't evenprove that William Boles never left the planet, for that matter. Thereweren't any records to speak of being kept in the early days. " He wassilent a moment. "Supposing, " he said, "we went ahead anyway. We handthe gun in, with the story I just told you--" Jackson made a harsh, laughing sound. "That would hang us fast, Phil!" "And nothing else?" "Nothing else, " Black said with finality. "Why should anyone believe thestory now? There are a hundred more likely ways in which a Geest guncould have got to Roye. The gun is tangible evidence of the hoax, butthat's all. " Phil asked, "Does anybody ... Including the cautious gentlemen in thecar over there ... Disagree with that?" There was silence again. Phil shrugged, turned towards the cliff edge, drew his arm back and hurled the Geest gun far up and out above the sea. Still without speaking, the others turned their heads to watch it falltowards the water, then looked back at him. "I didn't think very much of that possibility myself, " Phil saidunsteadily. "But one of you might have. All right--_we_ know the Geestsknow we're here. But we won't be able to convince anyone else of it. And, these last few years, the war seems to have been slowing downagain. In the past, that's always meant the Geests were preparing a bignew surprise operation. "So the other thing now--the business of getting off Roye. It can't bedone unless some of you have made prior arrangements for it Earthside. If it had been possible in any other way, I'd have been out of thisplace ten years ago. " Ronald Black said carefully, "Very unfortunately, Boles, no sucharrangements have been made. " "Then there it is, " Phil said. "I suppose you see now why I thought thisgroup should get together. The ten masterminds! Well, we've hoaxedourselves into a massive jam. Now let's find out if there's any possibleway--_any possibility at all!_--of getting out of it again. " A voice spoke tinnily from Jackson's lapel communicator. "MajorJackson?" "Yes?" Jackson said. "Please persuade Miss Adams that it is no longer necessary to point hergun at this car. In view of the stated emergency, we feel we had bettercome out now--and join the conference. " * * * FROM THE RECORDS OF THE TERRITORIAL OFFICE, 2345 A. D. ... It is generally acknowledged that the Campaign of the 132nd Segmentmarked the turning point of the Geest War. Following the retransfer ofColonel Silas Thayer to Earth, the inspired leadership of Major WayneJackson and his indefatigable and exceptionally able assistants, notablyCLU President Boles, transformed the technically unfortified and thinlysettled key world of Roye within twelve years into a virtual death trapfor any invading force. Almost half of the Geest fleet which eventuallyarrived there was destroyed in the first week subsequent to the landing, and few of the remaining ships were sufficiently undamaged to be able tolift again. The enemy relief fleet, comprising an estimated forty percent of the surviving Geest space power, was intercepted in the 134thSegment by the combined Earth forces under Admiral McKenna's command andvirtually annihilated. In the following two years ... [Illustration] Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from _Analog_ August 1962. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.