Mayer beat with the heavy knocker on the door and a slot opened for a
quick check of his identity. The door opened wide and Technician Martin
Gunther let them in.

"The others are here already?" Mayer asked him.

Gunther nodded. "Since breakfast. Baron Leonar, in particular, is
impatient."

Mayer said over his shoulder, "All right, Jerry, this is where we put it
to them."

They entered the long conference room. A full score of men sat about the
heavy wooden table. Most of them were as richly garbed as their host.
Most of them in their middle years. All of them alert of eye. All of
them confidently at ease.

* * * * *

Amschel Mayer took his place at the table's end and Jerome Kennedy sank
into the chair next to him. Mayer took the time to speak to each of his
guests individually, then he leaned back and took in the gathering as a
whole. He said, "You probably realize that this group consists of the
twenty most powerful merchants on the continent."

Olderman nodded. "We have been discussing your purpose in bringing us
together, Honorable Mayer. All of us are not friends." He twisted his
face in amusement. "In fact, very few of us are friends."

"There is no need for you to be," Mayer said snappishly, "but all are
going to realize the need for co-operation. Honorables, I've just come
from the city of Ronda. Although I'd paid heavily in advance to the
three barons whose lands I crossed. I had to bribe myself through a
dozen road-blocks, had to pay exorbitant rates to cross three ferries,
and once had to fight off supposed bandits."

One of his guests grumbled, "Who were actually probably soldiers of the
local baron who had decided that although you had paid him transit fee,
it still might be profitable to go through your goods."

Mayer nodded. "Exactly, my dear Honorable, and that is why we've
gathered."

Olderman had evidently assumed spokesmanship for the others. Now he said
warily, "I don't understand."

"Genoa, if you'll pardon the use of this name to signify the planet upon
which we reside, will never advance until trade has been freed from
these bandits who call themselves lords and barons."

Eyebrows reached for hairlines.

Olderman's eyes darted about the room, went to the doors. "Please," he
said, "the servants."

"My servants are safe," Mayer said.

One of his guests was smiling without humor. "You seem to forget,
Honorable Mayer, that I carry the title of bar