or so, then walked in and surrendered. The guerrilla network on the
entire planet, sir, is under your command."

He shook his head. "It's not my command," he said. "This is a
democracy. You've met Huey ... my orderly, in the old days. But now he
has as much voice as I have. Except for expert matters."

Crackpots. But I listened. Democracy was the basis of their group;
every move was voted on by the entire band, wherever possible. "We're
not a dictatorship," Hollerith said. "We don't intend to become one."

It was nice to hear that; it meant that, maybe, I wouldn't have to get
rid of him after all. "Anyway," I said, "your men appear to be the
only ones active on Sergeant's behalf."

[Illustration]

He took it without flinching. "Then we need help," he said. "Can you
provide it?"

"I can get you guns," I said. "Volunteers. Supplies."

There was a little pause.

"Who do you think you are?" Hollerith said. "God?"

I didn't tell him that, from his point of view, I was inhabiting the
other half of the theological universe. Somehow, it didn't seem
necessary.

* * * * *

The men started to arrive in a week, some of them carrying supplies
and armaments for all the rest. Hollerith was beside himself with joy,
and even Huey stopped looking at me with suspicion. In the meantime,
I'd been living with the guerrillas, eating and sleeping with them,
but I hadn't been exactly trusted. There'd been a picked group of men
set to watch over me at all times, and I managed to get a little
friendly with them, but not very. In case I turned out to be a louse,
nobody wanted to have to shed tears over my unmarked grave.

Until the men arrived, there weren't any raids; Hollerith, very
sensibly, wanted to wait for my reinforcements, and he carried most of
the group with him. Huey was all for killing me and getting on with
normal operations; I don't think he had any real faith in me even
after the reinforcements began to arrive.

I'd made the call on my radio, in Hollerith's hearing. I'd asked for
one hundred and fifty men--a force just a bit larger than the entire
band Hollerith had commanded until then--three hundred heaters with
ammunition and supplies to match, a couple of large guns throwing
explosive shells, and some dynamite. I added the dynamite because it
sounded like the sort of thing guerrillas ought to have, and Hollerith
didn't seem to mind. On his instructions, I gave them a safe route to