ly means left--by
force. We'll bomb any power that attempts to launch atom bombs, or
begins any form of military aggression. And remember--no more rockets
to the moon!

"And who are we? WE are not America, Russia, France, Britain,
Yugoslavia, China, Japan, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
Spain, Portugal, Canada, Texas, or any South American country. We are
no country at all. We are of ALL countries. We are here to protect all
countries from every other country, and we will try to do this by
force if necessary. Remember--no more rockets to the moon. We will
atom-bomb any nation attempting any form of military aggression."

* * * * *

The Brotherhood was very old, the outgrowth of an ancient Eastern
philosophical cult of non-resistance and peace. With six months more,
the Brotherhood could win the peace, maybe forever. If the speech just
made frightened the Americans enough, they wouldn't try anything. The
only other powers that might start a war within six months were
Russia, China, Yugoslavia. And they were too uncertain as to whether
or not America had already reached the moon. Who controlled the Moon
controlled Earth. They had been afraid for some time that perhaps
America had already gotten to the moon. Mutual fear of retaliation had
postponed the last war this long.

The Brotherhood knew social-psychology. They figured this would work.

Barlow felt himself backing away from the rocket. They were watching
him, the rocket's eyes and ears. Taking his voice and image back to
earth, back to voices and laughter and music and sound and warmth and
women ... with a sob, he twisted away from the rocket, turned, fell
to his thighs in thick pumice-dust, kept on struggling through lazy
streaming dust ribbons and he didn't look back. He was watched; he
mustn't look back at the rocket again.

Meteors exploded soundlessly on the beds of lava and seas of dust,
shooting up thick motionless sprays that seemed almost solid. Above
him, like splintered steel, stretched the thousands of feet of crater
wall. He reached the sharp wall of rock, managed to get around it and
out of sight of the rocket. He fell. He lay there, his suit blending
with the cold and airless landscape.

He screamed. He clawed his way up, started back again, back toward the
rocket. Hell with the Brotherhood. He was for Hal Barlow. Just for Hal
Barlow. He'd tell the truth. It wouldn't be long then. They'd send
other rock