they were the big
potatoes in Germany and men of Einstein's stature fled the
country--being small potatoes, I suppose."

Amschel Mayer said, "We're getting away from the point. Pray go on, my
dear Leonid. You say you are forcibly uniting all Texcoco."

"We are uniting all Texcoco," Plekhanov corrected with a scowl. "Not
always by force. And that is by no means our only effort. We are
ferreting out the most intelligent of the assimilated peoples and
educating them as rapidly as possible. We've introduced iron ..."

"And use it chiefly for weapons," Kennedy murmured.

"... Antibiotics and other medicines, a field agriculture, are rapidly
building roads ..."

"Military roads," Kennedy mused.

"... To all sections of the State, have made a beginning in naval
science, and, of course, haven't ignored the arts."

"On the face of it," Mayer nodded, "hardly approaching Genoa."

Plekhanov rumbled indignantly, "We started two ethnic periods behind
you. Even the Tulans were still using bronze, but the Genoese had iron
and even gunpowder. Our advance is a bit slow to get moving, Mayer, but
when it begins to roll--"

Mayer gave his characteristic snort. "A free people need never worry
about being passed by a subjected one."

Barry Watson made himself another drink and while doing so looked over
his shoulder at Amschel Mayer. "It's interesting the way you throw about
that term _free_. Just what type of government do you sponsor?"

Mayer snapped, "Our team does not interfere in governmental forms,
Watson. The various nations are free to adapt to whatever local
conditions obtain. They range from some under feudalistic domination to
countries with varying degrees of republican democracy. Our base of
operations in the southern hemisphere is probably the most advanced of
all the chartered cities, Barry. It amounts to a city-state somewhat
similar to Florence during the Renaissance."

"And your team finds itself in the position of the Medici, I imagine."

"You might use that analogy. The Medici might have been, well, tyrants
of Florence, dominating her finances and trade as well as her political
government, but they were benevolent tyrants."

[Illustration]

"Yeah," Watson grinned. "The thing about a benevolent tyranny, though,
is that it's up to the tyrants to decide what's benevolent. I'm not so
sure there's a great basic difference between your governing of Genoa
and ours of Texcoco."

"Don't be an ass," Mayer snappe