o its beginning in that first illegal deal in
Indo-Turanian opium, diverted from trade with the Khiftan Sector and
sold on Second Level Luvarian Empire Sector, and the deals in
radioactive poisons, and the slave trade. He would be able to name few
names--the Organization kept its activities too well compartmented for
that--but he could talk of things that had happened, and when, and
where, and on what paratemporal areas.

No. The Organization wouldn't let that happen, and the only way it
could be prevented would be by the death of Salgath Trod, as soon as
he had made his speech. All the talk of providing him with
corroborative evidence was silly; it had been intended to lead him
more trustingly to the slaughter. They'd kill him, of course, in some
way that would be calculated to substantiate the story he would no
longer be able to repudiate. The killer, who would be promptly rayed
dead by somebody else, would wear a Paratime Police uniform, or
something like that. That was of no importance, however; by then, he'd
be beyond caring.

* * * * *

One of his three ServSec Prole servants--the slim brown girl who was
his housekeeper and hostess, and also his mistress--admitted him to
the apartment. He kissed her perfunctorily and closed the door behind
him.

"You're tired," she said. "Let me call Nindrandigro and have him bring
you chilled wine; lie down and rest until dinner."

"No, no; I want brandy." He went to a cellaret and got out a decanter
and goblet, pouring himself a drink. "How soon will dinner be ready?"

The brown girl squeezed a little golden globe that hung on a chain
around her neck; a tiny voice, inside it, repeated: "Eighteen
twenty-three ten, eighteen twenty-three eleven, eighteen twenty-three
twelve--"

"In half an hour. It's still in the robo-chef," she told him.

He downed half the goblet-full, set it down, and went to a painting, a
brutal scarlet and apple-green abstraction, that hung on the wall.
Swinging it aside and revealing the safe behind it, he used his
identity-sigil, took out a wad of Paratemporal Exchange Bank notes and
gave them to the girl.

"Here, Zinganna; take these, and take Nindrandigro and Calilla out for
the evening. Go where you can all have a good time, and don't come
back till after midnight. There will be some business transacted here,
and I want them out of this. Get them out of here as soon as you can;
I'll see to the dinner myself. Spen