MALCOLM JAMESON: Science Fiction Collection - 17 Books in One Edition. Malcolm Jameson

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      "It is time to go," whispered Cynthia. "We have taken great risks."

      "Courage, sweet," said Winchester, crushing Cynthia in one last embrace. "Keep on believing in me, even if I do some strange things soon. It may take time, but if I succeed, not only will we be free but all humanity as well."

      "I feel so helpless," the girl murmured. "What if Prince Lohan — "

      Winchester felt within a secret pocket and drew forth a small object. He pressed it into her hand. It was an ampule of the canary-colored drug of dreams.

      "Keep this hidden about you at all times. If Lohan presses you to the point of desperation, break it under his nose, but hold your own breath and run. Its fumes deal out a death-in-life, a gripping drug habit."

      A sharp hiss came from the anxious princess. Their eyes blurred with tears. There was a tight squeeze of the hand. Before he knew it, Winchester was standing among silent bushes whose boughs stirred faintly in the wind. He waited a little bit and then walked on, pretending to examine the vegetation.

      A day later he met Prince Lohan himself. He was strolling in the woods unattended. At the sight of Winchester he sat down on a knoll of grass and motioned to the American to come and sit beside him. His manner was impersonally expectant.

      "Well?" he asked. "What is the situation at the Lunar Mines?"

      Winchester pretended for a moment to have a reluctance that he did not feel. He was resolved to pull no punches, but here he was treading on dangerous ground.

      "I am sorry to report, sir," he said, as if painfully picking his words, "that your noble kinsman is disloyal, and his entire establishment is with him."

      "I know that," barked Lohan. "The details, please."

      "He poses as a humane man, as bait to the workers. To bolster that pose, he feeds them a little better and allows them small liberties. It is a policy that has brought many of the better workers to his side. Slaves scheme to be sold to him. He has allowed it to leak downward to the multitude that when he becomes the Khan — "

      "He will never become Khan," snapped Lohan.

      " — he will abolish slavery and institute reforms. His man Stallforth is particularly dangerous because he is able, sincere and a courageous fighter. The rank and file are all steamed up. They plan to contaminate the other workers and eventually seize control of the Moon. The accession of Prince Li-Kiang would follow as a matter of course."

      "Excellent!" exclaimed Lohan. "You put the thing in a nutshell. It is a true report and a concise one. I knew all of it long ago. I wanted confirmation from an enemy."

      "An enemy, my lord?" asked Winchester.

      "Aren't you?" countered Lohan. "And why not?"

      "I am not a fool, like these others. In this world, the strong get what they want, and therefore I intend to be strong. And to be still stronger, I intended to ally myself with the strong. It is no more than common sense."

      "Well spoken. Now, what are your recommendations as to the mine situation?"

      "All but the superintendent should be made convicts. That is simple. Merely make the mine crater another prison — the work will continue uninterrupted. Stallforth should be sent to the Crater of Dreams — "

      "He shall die by torture," declared Lohan.

      "No," said Winchester firmly. "He knows too much. He has a peculiar insight into the geologic structure of the Moon. It was he who discovered the veins they are now working. When those fail, he will discover more."

      "From the Crater of Dreams — steeped in dope?" queried Lohan sarcastically.

      "Yes. It is an intuitive matter. All we must do is put a helmet on him. Let his ideas and fantasies roam. Any slave could listen in on them, and if that slave could remember them truly, he would appear to be a great metallurgist. We will know where other deposits are likely to be found, and how to get at them. Stallforth will be helpless to act, but the activity of his brain is left to us."

      "A novel idea," murmured Lohan. "We should have thought of that sooner. Are there other scientists that we could profit from in the same manner?"

      "Many. Few of them are truly loyal. Most resent the present regime. I would recommend dozens for the pit of dreams, including most of my former associates in botany and zoology. We need not put up with their sulky ways and obstinate behavior. All we have to do is give them a whiff of the gas and they have formed the habit.

      "After that we need only listen in to reap the fruits of their uncontrolled thoughts. I assure you an era of unprecedented advance in the sciences will follow."

      Winchester paused to gauge the effect he had made. It was profound. Lohan had taken the bait, hook, line and sinker.

      "Magnificent!" he exclaimed. "You shall do it."

      "I only know some of them," reminded Winchester. "I would have to have access to the secret files to know the real capacities of the rest and their attitude toward us."

      "You shall have it," said Lohan. "But back to the mines. You failed to state your recommendation concerning the Prince Li-Kiang. What should be done with him?"

      "That is for your Lordship to say. If I were in your place, I should have him beheaded."

      "As good as done. The order will go forth tonight. What else?"

      Winchester scratched his head, pretending a reluctance he did not feel. He stammered several beginnings, as if uncertain what to say, then laid his plan down plainly. Lohan listened attentively throughout, nodding from time to time as he agreed with the several items.

      There were too many AFPA men, Winchester told him. Many of them were corrupt, as shown by the recent exposure of the late Number Eight.

      "He is dead," interrupted Lohan, "and his death was not a pleasant one."

      "There are others," reminded Winchester, and went on with his bill of indictment.

      The mass of workers, he asserted, were content with mere subsistence. A great deal of the current unrest was due to the system set up to suppress them unnecessarily. That could be done away with at one stroke. Modify the system so that it would not be so galling, round up and imprison the known agitators in one grand haul. After that there would be little trouble.

      "You can do this?" asked Lohan, sold to the tip of his toes.

      "I can — given the information you have on file and unlimited authority."

      "You have it," said Lohan, rising.

      The two men stood up and faced one another.

      "You have proclaimed yourself a selfish man," said Prince Lohan, deliberately. "You expect a reward for this service. What is it?"

      "Power, first," said Winchester. "Then a wife of my own choosing."

      "The first has already been granted," said Lohan smoothly. "We will see how you handle it. As to the wife, that will follow. Deliver what you promise and you shall have the inspection and choice of a hundred thousand maidens. Select which, СКАЧАТЬ