succeed in walking off your tours,
remember that there is a tradition of fellowship in the Corps which its
members are expected to observe. Dismiss."

After Grayson's steel-sharp salute and exit the Commandant dug deeper
into the folder. Apparently there was something wrong with the boy's
left arm, but it had been passed by the examining team that visited Io.
Most unusual. Most irregular. But nothing could be done about it now.

* * * * *

The President, softer now in body than on his election day, and
infinitely more cautious, snapped: "It's all very well to create an
incident. But where's the money to come from? Who wants the rest of Io
anyway? And what will happen if there's war?"

Treasury said: "The hoarders will supply the money, Mr. President. A
system of percentage-bounties for persons who report currency-hoarders,
and then enforced purchase of a bond issue."

Raw materials said: "We need that iron, Mr. President. We need it
desperately."

State said: "All our evaluations indicate that the Soviet Premier would
consider nothing less than armed invasion of his continental borders as
occasion for all-out war. The consumer-goods party in the Soviet has
gained immensely during the past five years and of course their
armaments have suffered. Your shrewd directive to put the Republic in a
war-like posture has borne fruit, Mr. President...."

President Folsom XXV studied them narrowly. To him the need for a border
incident culminating in a forced purchase of Soviet Io did not seem as
pressing as they thought, but they were, after all, specialists. And
there was no conceivable way they could benefit from it personally. The
only alternative was that they were offering their professional advice
and that it would be best to heed it. Still, there was a vague, nagging
something....

Nonsense, he decided. The spy dossiers on his Cabinet showed nothing but
the usual. One had been blackmailed by an actress after an affair and
railroaded her off the Earth. Another had a habit of taking bribes to
advance favorite sons in civil and military service. And so on. The
Republic could not suffer at their hands; the Republic and the dynasty
were impregnable. You simply spied on everybody--including the
spies--and ordered summary executions often enough to show that you
meant it, and kept the public ignorant: deaf-dumb-blind ignorant. The
spy system was simplicity itself; you had only to let things g