mounting the same deal on their own, General Atomics steals a march by boosting one from an island leased from Ecuador — and their men are there, sitting pretty and looking smug when the Federation vessel shows up — followed by the Russian one.
«So General Atomics, a Swiss corporation American controlled, claimed the Moon. The Federation couldn't brush them off and grab it; the Russians wouldn't have held still. So the High Court ruled that a corporate person, a mere legal fiction, could not own a planet; the real owners were the men who maintained occupation — Larkin and associates. So they recognized them as a sovereign nation and took them into the Federation — with melon slicing for those on the inside and concessions to General Atomics and its daughter corporation, Lunar Enterprises. This did not please anybody and the Federation High Court was not all-powerful then — but it was a compromise everybody could swallow. It resulted in rules for colonizing planets, all based on the Larkin Decision and intended to avoid bloodshed. Worked, too — World War Three did
Jill shook her head. «I don't see the connection.»
«Think, Jill. By our laws, Smith is a sovereign nation — and sole owner of the planet Mars.»
V
JILL LOOKED round-eyed. «Too many martinis, Ben. I would swear you said that patient owns Mars.»
«He does. He occupied it the required period. Smith is the planet Mars — King, President, sole civic body, what you will. If the
«Fantastic!»
«But legal. Honey, you see why people are interested in Smith? And why the administration is keeping him under a rug? What they are doing isn't legal. Smith is also a citizen of the United States and of the Federation; it's illegal to hold a citizen, even a convicted criminal, incommunicado anywhere in the Federation. Also, it has been an unfriendly act all through history to lock up a visiting monarch — which he is — and not to let him see people, especially the press, meaning
«Huh? You've got me scared silly. Ben, if they had caught me, what would they have done?»
«Mmm … nothing rough. Locked you in a padded cell, with a certificate signed by three doctors, and allowed you mail on alternate leap years. I'm wondering what they are going to do to
«What
«Well, he might die — from gee-fatigue, say.»
«You mean
«Tut, tut! Don't use nasty words. I don't think they will. In the first place he is a mine of information. In the second place, he is a bridge between us and the only other civilized race we have encountered. How are you on the classics? Ever read H. G. Wells'
«A long time ago, in school.»
«Suppose the Martians turn out nasty. They might and we have no way of guessing how big a club they swing. Smith might be the go-between who could make the First Interplanetary War unnecessary. Even if this is unlikely, the administration can't ignore it. The discovery of life on Mars is something that, politically, they haven't figured out yet.»
«Then you think he is safe?»
«For the time being. The Secretary General has to guess right. As you know, his administration is shaky.»
«I don't pay attention to politics.»
«You should. It's barely less important than your own heart beat.»
«I don't pay attention to that, either.»
«Don't talk when I'm orating. The patchwork majority headed by Douglas could slip apart overnight — Pakistan would bolt at a nervous cough. There would be a vote of no confidence and Mr. Secretary General Douglas would go back to being a cheap lawyer. The Man from Mars can make or break him. Are you going to sneak me in?»
«I'm going to enter a nunnery. Is there more coffee?»
«I'll see.»
They stood up. Jill stretched and said, «Oh, my ancient bones! Never mind coffee, Ben; I've got a hard day tomorrow. Run me home, will you? Or send me home, that's safer.»
«Okay, though the evening is young.» He went into his bedroom, came out carrying an object the size of a small cigarette lighter. «You won't sneak me in?»
«Gee, Ben, I
«Never mind. It is dangerous — and not just to your career.» He showed her the object. «Will you put a bug on him?»
«Huh? What is it?»
«The greatest boon to spies since the Mickey Finn. A microminiaturized recorder. The wire is spring driven so it can't be spotted by a snooper circuit. The insides are packed in plastic — you could drop it out of a cab. The power is about as much radioactivity as in a watch dial, but shielded. The wire runs twenty-four hours. Then you slide out a spool and stick in another — the spring is part of the spool.»
«Will it explode?» she asked nervously.
«You could bake it in a cake.»
«Ben, you've got me scared to go into his room.»
«You can go into the room next door, can't you?»
«I suppose so.»
«This thing has donkey's ears. Fasten the concave side against a wall — tape will do — and it picks up everything in the room beyond.»
«I'm bound to be noticed if I duck in and out of that room. Ben, his room has a wall in common with a room on another corridor. Will that do?»
«Perfect. You'll do it?»
«Umm… give it to me. I'll think it over.»
Caxton polished it with his handkerchief. «Put on your gloves.»
«Why?»
«Possession is good for a vacation behind bars. Use gloves and don't get caught with it.»
«You think of the nicest things!»
«Want to back out?»
Jill let out a long breath. «No.»
«Good girl!» A light blinked, he glanced up. «That must be your cab. I rang for it when I went to get this.»
«Oh. Find my shoes, will you? Don't come to the roof. The less I'm seen with you the better.»
«As you wish.»
As he straightened up from putting her shoes on, she took his head in both hands and kissed him. «Dear Ben! No good can come of this and I hadn't realized you were a criminal — but you're a good cook as long as I set the combination … I might marry you if I can trap you into proposing again.»
«The offer remains open.»
«Do gangsters marry their molls? Or is it “frails”?» She left hurriedly.
Jill placed the bug easily. The patient in the room in the next corridor was bedfast; Jill often stopped to gossip. She stuck it against the wall over a closet shelf while chattering about how the maids just
