ave him the prepared story automatically; it rolled out but I
wasn't thinking about it. He'd given me my first real surprise; I'd
thought Hollerith had been killed at Andrew's Farm, and, as far as I
knew, so did the Government. Instead, here he was, alive and kicking,
doing a pretty good job of working with a guerrilla gang. I wondered
who Huey would turn out to be, but it didn't seem like the time to
ask.

The story, of course, was a good one. Naturally it wasn't proof of
anything, or even susceptible of proof right then and there; it wasn't
meant to be. I didn't expect them to buy it sight unseen, but I'd
planned it to give me some time until I could start the next step.

James Carson, I told Hollerith, was a reasonably big wheel around
Ancarta. He wasn't in sympathy with the Government, but he hadn't
fought in the revolutionary armies or been active in any overt way.

"Why not?" he snapped at me.

"I was more valuable where I stood," I said. "There's a lot that can
be done with paper work in the way of sabotage."

He nodded. "I see," he said. "I see what you mean."

"I worked in one of the Government departments," I said. "That enabled
me to pass information on to Sergeant's men in the vicinity. It also
gave me a good spot for mixing up orders and shipments."

He nodded again. "That's one of the advantages of a guerrilla outfit,"
he said. "The administration end really doesn't exist; we can live off
the country. I should think that, over an area as large as we can
range on Wohlen, we can't be wiped out."

Of course, that was only his opinion; but I wasn't easy about it. The
sight of him had shaken me quite a bit and I began to think I'd have
to get rid of him. That would be unpleasant and dangerous, I told
myself. But there didn't seem to be any help for it, at the moment.

"About information," he said. "You were closely watched--anyone
working for the Government would have had to have been. How did you
get your information out?"

I nodded toward the radio. "It's not a normal call-radio," I said,
with perfect truth. "Its operation is indetectable by the normal
methods. I'm not an expert, so I won't go into technical details; it's
enough that the radio works."

"Then why come to us?" Hollerith said. "Aren't there guerrillas in the
Ancarta vicinity for you to work with?"

I shook my head. "Only a few more or less ... ah ... disaffected
minorities," I said. That was true, too. "They raised hell for a day