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.Mortiiy advanced the weird theory that a technicianhad tamperedwith the machine.His father, Cling, despite this grave provocation, did yet speak to him further anddemanded that if this was true, the technician be produced.Alas for Mortiiy, he had killed the offender ina rage of grief over his brother's death.Mortiiy was placed under house arrest for a considerable period, becoming very gloomy and surly,refusing to apologize.When, five years ago, the heir to the throne, Glit, was found dead in his chambers after a short illness,two Lords approached the palace of Mortiiy to inform him that he was now the heir to the throne.Instead of receiving the news graciously, Mortiiy flew into a rage, grievously injured both of them, racedto his father's palace, shot down the guards and gained audience.Mortiiy accused Cling before the entire court of being a murderer of his own children, renounced anysuccession to "a throne drenched in family blood," fired a shot which narrowly missed Cling and then,killing several, seized an air-tank outside and made his escape.Proclaimed now by Cling an outcast from the Royal family and with no right to succession to the throne,Mortiiy turned up at the Royal estates on Calabar.He subverted the guards and raised the standard ofrevolt.He was proclaimed a rebel by Cling.His Majesty has been overheard to say that he would bestow vast estates upon the man whobrings in the head of Mortiiy, so deep has the insult rankled.Due to ding's advanced age and the length of his reign, efforts have been made to find and choose anheir apparent.But those clearly eligible in direct line have passed away.Succession must be chosen by aconclave of Lords and the Grand Council."So you see, Jettero," said the Countess when she finished reading, "if you are thinking of taking HisMajesty to Calabar and joining the rebel forces you'd seal his fate.Mortiiy would simply kill him.""Mortiiy is not a madman," said Heller."He'll do until one comes along," said the Countess."He is no longer in line for the succession.Thewhole fighting force of the Apparatus, as we heard when we were on Voltar, is engaged in a full-scaleattack to wipe him out."Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlHeller did not answer her.Instead he went to see Captain Bolz, who was sitting in his ship under heavyguard.Bolz looked up the instant Heller appeared."No sense talking to me," he said."I'm not going to join the(bleeped) Fleet and neither will my crew.We're sensible people.We belong in the Apparatus and we aregoing to stay there!""I am sure," said Heller, "that, with your smuggling, you find it far too profitable.But I'm not asking youto join.All I'm asking you to do is take back a cargo to Voltar.""WHAT?" said Bolz."So all this talk about no more drugs was just wind.""It will take several days to get your cargo here from New York, so if you will promise to sit quietly andgive no trouble, you can go home with it and you won't be in any trouble at all.""That's fair," said Bolz.Heller went immediately to Faht Bey's office.He put in a long-distance call to the president of I.G.Barben and you could almost see the sweat spurting back out of the phone when the man realized whohe was talking to."Now hear me carefully," said Heller."I want a ton of tablets made.They will be composed of 50percent antihistamine and 50 percent methadone.They will be shaped and packaged and marked asamphetamines and you will get them to the airport in Afyon, Turkey, by jet within four days.""A ton?""Correct," said Heller."See to it."The antihistamine, he knew from his studies, would give a semblance of reaction like amphetamines; themethadone would counteract heroin.If Lombar ran out of drugs, let the Lords withdraw more easily withthat.He doubted anyone would detect the difference.It bought time.He wrote a despatch to Bolz telling him to be on the lookout for it, load it up when it came and go home.And he wrote the despatch with an ink that would fade to nothing in a couple of days.He found Faht Bey."How many freighters do you have that will operate?""We got the old ones running.Two more have been stopped here.Five freighters.""Good.That's enough.Disassemble the base and load it and all personnel.Break your neck and beready to go as soon as possible.""It will take days," said Faht Bey."I hope not," said Heller."If we do this right and we are quick, we can save this planet."Chapter 4Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlThere seemed, suddenly, to be a thousand details to what had looked like a simple undertaking.Familyconnections who had been unaware of extraterrestrial husbands and domestic connections who hadnever known who their employers really were had to be cared for somehow, at least decently set up inlife.Faht Bey remarked that the Apparatus would simply have killed them and then hastily said he wasjust commenting, when he saw Heller's look.The New York office had to be shut down and its personnel hauled back.Heller found out from Prahd that there was now a lot of trained Earth staff, including doctors, and thatmade up Heller's mind.He phoned Mudur Zengin at the Piastre National Bank."Make up papers," Heller said, "transferring amounts which have been scheduled for 'companymaintenance, Afyon' over to 'hospital and disease-eradication use.' Make them up so they stay in effectpending any cancellation from me.""That's an awful lot of money for health," said Zengin."We're earmarking a good chunk of it for drug rehabilitation," said Heller."That's a big job," said Zengin."Right.Maybe we can undo some of the damage that's been done.Would it be asking too much to flythe papers down here?""Not at all," said Zengin."I'll come myself."Krak got hold of Heller."That Russian spy colonel is still sitting there in his cell.You were holding him incase they needed more when they tried Gris.Remember?""Well, he hasn't got a country anymore," said Heller."He can't be very dangerous.Put a hypnohelmet onhim and suppress his memory of the base and let him go.""It's not that simple," said the Countess."There's the two little boys he corrupted.They're caving in,nobody can do a thing with them.I had an idea.France has been exporting an awful lot of drugs.""What's that got to do with Colonel Gaylov?" said Heller."He was also exporting heroin.From here.Tokeep the international KGB network running.""Well, those that commit crimes like that," said the Countess Krak, "will often turn completely aroundand campaign against such deeds [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]