'Mars will have to do what Terra asks,' Erickson said. 'Now Terra will be able to make her commercial demands felt. Maybe there won't even be a war. Perhaps Terra will get her way without fighting.' Still smiling, he put the globe back into the briefcase and locked it.
'Quite a story,' Thacher said. 'What an amazing process, reduction of size— A whole City reduced to microscopic dimensions. Amazing. No wonder you were able to escape. With such daring as that, no one could hope to stop you.'
He looked down at the briefcase on the floor. Underneath them the jets murmured and vibrated evenly, as the ship moved through space toward distant Terra.
'We still have quite a way to go,' Jan said. 'You've heard our story, Thacher. Why not tell us yours? What sort of line are you in? What's your business?'
'Yes,' Mara said. 'What do you do?'
'What do I do?' Thacher said. 'Well, if you like, I'll show you.' He reached into his coat and brought out something. Something that flashed and glinted, something slender. A rod of pale fire.
The three stared at it. Sickened shock settled over them slowly.
Thacher held the rod loosely, calmly, pointing it at Erickson. 'We knew you three were on this ship,' he said. 'There was no doubt of that. But we did not know what had become of the City. My theory was that the City had not been destroyed at all, that something else had happened to it. Council instruments measured a sudden loss of mass in that area, a decrease equal to the mass of the City. Somehow the City had been spirited away, not destroyed. But I could not convince the other Council Leiters of it. I had to follow you alone.'
Thacher turned a little, nodding to the men sitting at the bar. The men rose at once, coming toward the table.
'A very interesting process you have. Mars will benefit a great deal from it. Perhaps it will even turn the tide in our favor. When we return to Marsport I wish to begin work on it at once. And now, if you will please pass me the briefcase—'
