Part 3

"For that your company will stand trial and be found guilty. It will probably be outlawed, and certainly bankrupt once fines and reparations are paid. Meanwhile, this planet, under the guidance of Universal Relief, will be helped to recuperate and the people will be informed of the gross injustice they have suffered. I am sure they will then desire to return to their previous system.

"But so much for the future. What about the past? Do you fully realize the enormity of the crime that your company has committed?

"Of course you don't. You weren't with me when I saw a nice old gentleman, one of the most brilliant minds of the age, blasted down with primitive rifles and even more primitive rage. You haven't heard the screams at night, have you? You weren't around, and neither was I, thank God, when Gerta Robin, that beautiful woman physicist was caught by the mob.

"Friend against friend, and the old hunting guns polished up for more deadly and constant shooting--is that a story that belongs in galactic history? Is it for this that great galactic corporations work--to turn peaceable planets into charnel houses for a stinking profit?

"That's the charge that you, and the rest of your workers, will have to answer to--not in courts, but to the people of the Galaxy.

"And, most important--to yourselves!"

With that, he strode out.

* * * * *

Kim Rogers was again in the presence of Roald Gibbons, and he was angry again.

"And don't look so smug. I know what you did. I worked with your father long enough to know about his special agents--but don't think the operation was all your doing.

"What do you think happened here when you sent that spacegram tipping us off that it was Galactic Aid behind the mess, and that we were to declare it a Class AA. It was a madhouse!

"It accomplished the desired result," Roald said. "When the Governor and the Secretary read that Class AA bulletin--and it took careful planning and timing to get into their office just when it was delivered--with me there to pound it home, they sort of faded about the gills.

"They came running to me in a few minutes. Now they are Honor Witnesses at Galactic Court, with more than enough testimony to sew up Galactic Aid."

Roald had a hard time keeping his mind on the present conversation. He was due to blast to Lyrane in a few hours. His company was proceeding with rehabilitation ahead of schedule, with the natural zealousness of the Lyranians for their old system helping them along.

Roald had not forgotten the piquant beauty of Erol Garbin's daughter. He had a hard time keeping his mind on the conversation.

"If anyone else had read that Class AA bulletin," Kim said, "we would have been sewed up. You know perfectly well we don't have the powers you had us state in that bulletin. It was a galactic offense to even print such a thing. What if the Governor had known that?"

"I counted on him not knowing it. Even though he was an executive of Galactic Aid, Class AA emergencies are so rare that very few people are familiar with their actual provisions.

"Certainly, it was a risky bluff. But when you're dealing with that sort of power, you have to bluff fast and hard. We didn't have enough evidence to actually stop Galactic. We needed inside testimony. When you rescinded the Class AA order, two hours later, the confession was already signed."

Exasperation was now Kim's mood. "One of these times your bluff won't work, and all your secret agents won't do you a bit of good. Empire law is nothing to tamper with."

Roald smiled. "I think that Galactic Aid found that out."

End of Project Gutenberg's Money is the Root of All Good, by Patrick Wilkins