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Rise of the Standard Republic

By Steven Gordon



Part I: Rise of the Standard Republic



Chapter 1: One of Our War Admirals Is Missing





	War Admiral Norman North, ruler of the Standard Imperium, was 
dead.

	Well, he wasn't technically dead, but his mind was gone, largely 
destroyed by an old fashioned bullet from a sniper's rifle. His deputy, 
Admiral Roger Dulin, had been implicated in the plot to kill the War 
Admiral, and General Anatoly Karn, of the planet Pushkin, formerly the 
capital of the Slurian Union, had stepped into the vacuum to seize 
power. 

	Steven Quick, who had helped in the fight to rid humanity of the 
Insect invaders, had disappeared. The Meddler Capybara, who also played 
a key role in the war, was dead.

	The only senior leader from that time to survive was superspy 
Clifford Croft. Well, his survival didn't exactly surprise him; Croft 
knew, with little modesty, that he was the survivor type. Still, he 
grieved for friends both absent and lost. 

	Croft reflected on this as he typed up a report in the spacious 
offices of Imperial Intelligence, formerly known as the Column. The 
massive building housing the Column HQ had been destroyed in the first 
minutes of the Insect war, when Croft had been uncomfortably close by; 
it had been rebuilt during the early days of the Imperium.

	Back then it had been called the Standard Imperium. Now it was 
merely known as the Imperium. It wasn't simply a difference in 
semantics, or the colors of the Imperial uniforms. When War Admiral 
Norman North had ruled the Standard Imperium, it had been a more open, 
vibrant society, encompassing the former planets of the League, the 
June Directorate, the Slurian Union, and the other inhabited planets. 
When General Karn took over, however, he clamped down on dissent, 
raised taxes, and garrisoned all major planets "for their own 
protection". It was a dictatorship, to be sure, but then, War Admiral 
North had run a dictatorship as well; but one with a decidedly 
different tone.

	Croft wondered why he stayed in service. He didn't particularly 
care for General Karn's governance; but then, he hadn't particularly 
cared for the old League either. The League had been weak, corrupt, and 
slow to respond to external threats. General Karn's government, though 
more repressive than the League, had built up the armed forces, to make 
sure another Vitalics incident could never happen again. That was what 
was most important to Croft; after decades of living under Insect 
occupation, security was his most important issue. He knew that Karn's 
regime was somewhat more repressive than the one it had replaced, and, 
while troubling to him, wasn't enough to make him quit.

	But there were other reasons for his unhappiness. Croft turned to 
a fellow agent sitting next to him. "Remember when we used to be 
infiltrators?"
	"We are infiltrators," said Preston, the agent sitting next to 
him.

	"No we're not," said Croft. "There's nothing left to infiltrate. 
Every planet belongs to the Imperium."
	"We infiltrate all the time," said Preston. "Arms smugglers, drug 
dealers-"

	"Sure, sure, but it's not like taking on an entire planet, an 
entire government whose efforts are directed against you," said Croft.

	"Getting too easy for you, Cliffy?" said Preston. "I noticed in 
your last arms bust you almost got shot in the back."

	Croft waved a hand dismissively. "They missed me by nearly a 
foot. No, I'm thinking I want more of a challenge."

	"The galaxy is united. We should be glad that we live in easier 
times," said Preston.

	"Yeah," said Croft. 

	"If it's any consolation, things don't usually stay calm for 
long," said Preston.



********



	"You're being foolish," said Colonel Borscht.

	Emperor Karn, ruler of all the Imperium, gave Borscht a glare. He 
could sense that things were finally coming to a head. 

	"Who is the one being foolish?" said Karn, giving him a deadly 
stare.

	"You are," said Borscht. He held up a datapad. "You're rounding 
up some of your best scientists in the fields of physics and 
astromechanics and particle engineering."

	"They are traitors," said Karn.

	"Three of them have made disloyal statements. And 43 others you 
have judged guilty by association," said Borscht.

	"So?"

	"So you need them if you are to develop superior technology."
	"We have the greatest spacefleet in the galaxy, and we have no 
enemies!" said Karn. This was ridiculous.

	"You have the greatest spacefleet in your tiny corner of the 
galaxy, and it is only a matter of time before you meet your next 
enemy," said Borscht impatiently, as if he were talking to a child. 

	"How can you know that?" said Karn. "Our probes have found no 
signs of other life."

	"You have only probed perhaps twenty percent of your galaxy," 
said Borscht. "You never even located the Insect homeworlds."

	"I understood that they were safely on the other side of the 
galaxy," said Karn. "Without their spacegate, how could they even reach 
us?"

	"By building another," said Borscht. "Has that ever occurred to 
you?"

	"You think they will build another?"
	"There's no way to know," said Borscht. "Even if they don't, 
perhaps another hostile alien race will find you."

	"I think the internal threat is greater," said Karn.

	"And I think you're a fool," said Borscht.

	That was it. "That's the last time you are going to render that 
opinion," said Karn. He pressed a button, and two guards entered, 
blasters drawn. They wore the all black uniforms of the Emperor's 
Personal Guard.  

	Borscht looked at the soldiers without fear; if anything, he 
showed amusement. "Don't you remember what I said would happen if 
anything were to happen to me?"

	"You claimed to have some incriminating information that would 
suddenly become public," said Karn. He didn't wish to be any more 
specific, even in the presence of his personal guard. "I have 
extensively researched this, and found no evidence of any such 
information."
	"It exists," said Borscht.

	"Nevertheless, you will be thoroughly interrogated prior to your 
execution," said Karn. "If such information exists, you will reveal its 
location."
	Borscht shook his head sadly. "Brute force. That's all you know, 
just like the Insects. They never listened either."

	"Listened to what?" said Karn.	

	"Listened to me," said Borscht. 

	Suddenly, Karn felt a wave of fear. He didn't know its source. 
The guards, trembling furiously, ran away in terror.

	Borscht slowly approached Karn. The fear only increased.

	"Who are you?" Karn asked. 

	Borscht's image flickered, changed. In a matter of seconds he had 
changed into a green skinned hooded creature. "You can call me 
Baracki."



******



	General Can Erland was the ruler of the Standard Imperium. This 
wasn't to be confused with the much larger Imperium, ruled by General 
Karn. This was a portion of the original imperium, ruled by Admiral 
Myster Harkness, which had refused to accept Karn's authority when the 
War Admiral was shot. After a tense showdown Karn had allowed Harkness 
to govern his area independently. Over time Karn's government came 
simply to be known as the Imperium, while Harkness's handful of planets 
retained the name of the Standard Imperium.

	But after the situation had stabilized Harkness had promptly 
retired, handing over authority to his trusted deputy, General Tens 
Erland. Although technically a dictatorship, like the Imperium, unlike 
the Imperium there was no repression of any kind here, with complete 
freedom of the press, commerce, and freedom to travel.

	Former Admiral Stacy Wren entered General Erland's office. 
Although this was an Imperium, Erland, like Harkness, refused to be 
called Emperor; he was simply addressed by his name.

	"Admiral, thank you for coming," said Erland, looking 
unexpectedly apologetic.

	"I retired decades ago," said Wren. "I hope I'm not being called 
up for active duty."

	"No," said Erland, looking uncomfortable.

	Erland could only be calling her about War Admiral Norman North. 
Wren suddenly pieced it together. "He's dead, isn't he?"

	Erland shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

	"Norman's dead, and you wanted to tell me first, before you break 
it to the press," said Wren. Her face looked grief stricken.

	"No," said General Erland. "War Admiral Norman North isn't dead; 
at least, not that we know of."

	"Not that you know of?" said Wren. "He's in your top military 
hospital. How would you now know how he's doing?"

	"Because he's gone." said Erland. "No, not dead, gone. Simply 
gone."
	"General, can you speak more clearly?"
	"As you know, he's been guarded by an honor platoon from the 
204th brigade since he arrived here," said Erland. "Two nights ago, he 
simply vanished."

	"Vanished! How?" Wren asked.

	"We don't know," said Erland. "The guards nearest to him were 
found asleep at their posts."

	Wren found this preposterous. "Asleep? What kind of soldiers did 
you send to guard him, General?"

	"The best," said Erland crisply. "It's a distinct honor to guard 
the War Admiral, and we sent the best. And the soldiers weren't 
derelict in their duty, not unless you believe that eight of them would 
fall asleep at the same time."
	"Eight of them?" said Wren. "Did you check for-"

	"Drugs, everything," said Erland. "We found no sign of tampering. 
Yet obviously they were tampered with."
	"And Norm-"

	"No sign," said Erland. "We sealed off the area, and did a 
widescale search. There was no sign of him."

	"He can barely speak or think. What would someone want with him?" 
said Wren.

	"I don't know," said the General.
	"But you're going to keep looking for him, right?" said Wren.

	Erland was silent.

	"Right?" Wren repeated.

	"We don't know where to look," said Erland simply.



********



	"The Screen," said Karn slowly.

	"You know of us?" said Baracki.

	"I've seen all the intelligence reports from the Insect war. 
There were rumors that the Insects were getting help from an outside 
force, an outside force that were called the Screen."
	"I am a member of... what you call the Screen."

	"You attacked us...." said Karn. His eyes widened. "And now you 
are here to assassinate me!"

	"You are even stupider than I expected," said Baracki. "I have 
been working for you for years. I helped you attain power."

	"Why?" said Karn. "Why did you help the Insects attack us, and 
then help us now?"
	"We changed our calculations," said Baracki. "I represent a... 
group that believes in helping less advanced races."

	"You didn't help us when the Insects attacked," said Karn.

	"At the time we were helping what you inaccurately call the 
Insects," said Baracki. "We felt that we could help them build up a 
dominant society that could rule the galaxy."
	"What changed?" said Karn.

	"You beat them," said Baracki. "Oh, you had some outside help, we 
know that now. But your fleet was almost entirely destroyed, your 
planets occupied, and yet you rose up and beat them. That impressed 
us."

	"Really?" said Karn. "And so you decide you want to help us."

	"I've been helping you for many years, even before we met," said 
Baracki. "If it weren't for me, this entire planet would be little more 
than dust, floating in empty space."

	Karn opened his mouth, and then closed it. He appeared to think 
rapidly. "Queen Zsst... she was on that Monumental ship that was about 
to destroy August."

	"Correct," said Karn.

	"And for some reason, at the last minute, she turned the ship 
around and headed away," said Karn. "We never knew what changed her 
mind."

	"She never changed her mind," said Baracki. "I liquidated her 
mind."

	Karn stared at the hooded creature. "You killed the Insect Queen 
to save August."

	Baracki nodded.

	"Why?" Karn asked.

	"Because I saw the potential in your people," said Baracki. 
	"The potential to rule the galaxy."

	Karn's eyebrows lifted.

	"Under a strong ruler," said Baracki. "Our philosophy doesn't 
embrace the mindless bickering that was present in your former 
Alliance. I believe you also called it democracy. We believe in a 
strong, governing force to guide development."
	"Like an Imperium."

	"Correct," said Baracki. 

	"The War Admiral used to rule the Imperium," said Baracki. "Why 
didn't you offer to help him?"

	"I did," said Baracki. "He wasn't very open minded."
	"So you helped me kill him," said Emperor Karn.

	"He wasn't killed," said Baracki. "In any event, all that was 
needed was to get him out of the way. And in that we were successful."
	"And so... what now?"

	"Now you continue to improve your technology, build up your 
military, and colonize new planets," said Baracki. "You must prepare 
yourself for the next threat."
	"The next threat? What is the next threat?"
	"You are not yet ready," said Baracki. "You must continue to 
develop."
	"All right," said Karn. "I will devote even more resources to the 
military."

	"Good," said Baracki. "And do not grip too tightly to power that 
you strangle your resources." He indicated the datapad with the list of 
scientists.

	"Would you permit them to plot against me?" said Karn.

	"Just because some of them don't like you doesn't mean they're 
plotting against you," said Baracki. "But at the same time you don't 
have to tolerate an undue level of dissent. Bring the three lead 
scientists to me for personality adjustment; when they are released, 
they will serve as an example to the others. The other scientists will 
think twice before resisting your rule."

	"All right," said Karn.

	Baracki flickered, and suddenly appeared to be Colonel Borscht 
again. Karn licked his lips, wondering how this changed the governing 
equation.





Chapter 2:  Dalbo's Escape



	Borscht's real identity wasn't the only surprise that Karn had to 
deal with; the next day, the news of the War Admiral's disappearance 
reached him. He felt fear even as Baracki entered his throne room.

	"War Admiral Norman North has vanished," said Baracki. Though 
they were alone, he was in human form. Perhaps he realized that if 
anyone else saw him in his alien form, that would raise a lot of 
unwanted questions.

	"I didn't do it," said Karn.

	"I know that," hissed Baracki, not even trying to keep the scorn 
out of his voice.

	"Do you know who took him?" Karn asked.

	"One of the factions, obviously," said Baracki.

	Obviously. 

	Obviously? "What factions?"

	"It may not surprise you to learn that humans are not the only 
creatures in this galaxy," said Baracki. "There are many others, many 
of whom are more advanced than your race. Some of them group together 
into factions."

	"Factions? You mean, each species?"

	"Sometimes," said Baracki. "Factions can be groups of species. 
What binds them together is ideology."

	"And what are these factions doing with him?"	

	Baracki shrugged. "You will find out soon enough when they 
strike."

	"That doesn't sound encouraging."

	"Your job is not one for the faint of heart," said Baracki. "You 
will have enough trouble dealing with your own internal resistance."
	"What resistance?" said Karn.

	"Strikes. Dissidents. Protests."

	"Scattered and isolated," said Karn dismissively. "Yesterday you 
were telling me not to worry about internal threats."
	"There are real internal threats, but your tame scientists are 
not what you have to worry about," said Baracki. "You need to be 
concerned with organized resistance."

	"Organized by whom?" Karn asked.

	"I'm not sure," said Baracki. "I have tasked your Preventive 
Security Service to find out. They haven't been capable. All we know is 
that they call themselves the Freedom League."

	"The Freedom League?" Karn frowned. "What do they want."

	"They claim they want free elections," said Baracki. "I don't 
know what their real agenda is. Or who their leader is."

	"It seems there's a lot you don't know."

	"You are just like her," said Baracki.

	"Like who?"

	"Zsst," said Baracki. "She expected me to solve all her problems 
for her as well. Our assistance sometimes has that effect, creating 
dependency."

	"I'm not dependent on you," said Karn. "I will have a talk with 
Preventive Security."

	"Don't waste your time," said Baracki. "This organization has 
many layers. Their leader is quite elusive."

	"How do you know?"
	"I can sense it," said Baracki.

	Karn didn't ask for further elaboration. Instead he said, "What 
other option is there?" Karn asked.

	"Give Imperial Intelligence the assignment," said Baracki.

	"If Preventive Security couldn't locate a leader, I don't see why 
Imperial Intelligence would," said Karn.	

	"Preventive Security doesn't have your most capable agents," said 
Baracki.

	"Preventive Security is my personal security service. They are 
most loyal-"

	"And filled from the ranks of your former NGB," said Baracki. 
"But most loyal doesn't always translate into most capable. Most of 
your former NGB agents have, at one time or another, been defeated or 
outwitted by Clifford Croft, for example."

	"You propose that I give Croft this assignment?" Karn asked.

	"He is your most capable agent," said Baracki.

	Karn paused.

	"He has served you for nearly 20 years quite capably," Baracki 
added. "He was also instrumental in helping you obtain your current 
position."
	Karn nodded.

	"But you still don't trust him as you do your former NGB agents," 
said Baracki.

	"I will have this task assigned to him," said Karn. "If there is 
no one to locate, there is no harm done. If there is a leader 
coordinating this, we must find out who he is. However Croft has spent 
most of his adult life working for representative governments. He might 
be sympathetic to this group."

	"Then we will simply need to give him a reason to pursue it more 
closely," said Baracki. 

	"What do you have in mind?"
	Baracki paused. Then a gleam came into his eyes. "Tell him the 
Freedom League is a front group. Tell him it is a front group whose 
real goal is to put the Terrible Thinker into power."

	"The Terrible Thinker!" said Karn. The Terrible Thinker was a 
genius, who had ruled over his own dictatorship many years ago, before 
the Insect invasion. "He's dead. Everyone knows that."

	"Don't be so certain. His body was never found. It wouldn't 
surprise me to find out that he is still active. Nor would it be beyond 
him to use the trappings of democracy to try to get back in power," 
said Baracki.

	"You think this is being coordinated by the Terrible Thinker?" 
Karn asked.

	"No. It does not seem to be his pattern," said Baracki. "However, 
Croft could be convinced that it is. He has fought the Terrible Thinker 
before, and if we tell him it is the Thinker he is hunting, he might 
display more initiative than your Preventative Security agents."

	Karn considered, and then nodded. "Make it so."



	That afternoon Croft was summoned to the office of the director 
of Imperial Intelligence, Walter Magnuson. General Walter Magnuson. The 
direct of Imperial Intelligence was always a military man, nowadays.

	General Magnuson gave a perfunctory smile and gestured for Croft 
to have a seat.

	"How are you, agent Croft?'

	Croft shrugged. "Pretty well, sir."
	"I understand you've been getting restless lately."

	"How so?"

	General Magnuson pressed a button and a holoimage of Croft 
appeared from that morning.

	"Remember when we used to be infiltrators?" said the holoimage of 
Croft, talking to Preston.

	He played the conversation through until the part where Croft 
said he was looking for more of a challenge. Then the General stopped 
the recording, and looked at him.

	Croft shifted in his seat slightly, as if trying to think of what 
to say to fill the slightly awkward silence. Then he said, "If I knew 
my daily activities were going to be that high up on your viewing 
priorities, I would work harder to make them more entertaining."
	"You are our top agent, Croft," said Magnuson. "No, I am not 
exaggerating, you are the very best we have. And we like to be sure 
that the best we have are happy."

	"Well, that's very kind of you, sir," said Croft guardedly. 

	"That's why we've gotten something more challenging for you to 
do," said Magnuson.
	"And what would that be?" Croft asked.

	"The Freedom League," said Magnuson. "Does that name sound 
familiar to you?"
	Croft tried to look dumb. "Not really, sir."

	"Well, it's not surprising, since you've been working in a 
different division," said Magnuson. "There are a handful of 
troublemakers who are calling for the overthrow of the Imperium and 
what they call free elections." He waited for Croft to comment, perhaps 
give an opinion, but for once Croft kept silent.

	"We have tolerated these cranks until now but they have recently 
stepped up their activities."

	"Well, if they're only a handful, how much trouble could they 
be?" Croft asked.

	"We don't like to let small problems fester and become bigger 
ones," said Magnuson. "That's why we want you to track down the leader 
of this Freedom League and bring him to justice."

	"Do we have any idea who this might be?" Croft asked.

	"Yes, actually we do," said Magnuson. "Someone we believe you are 
familiar with. He goes by the name of the Terrible Thinker."

	"The Terrible Thinker? He's dead!" said Croft.

	"He got better," said Magnuson sarcastically. "Our intelligence 
indicates he is using this democracy movement as a front to takeover 
the Imperium."

	"Does your intelligence also indicate anything about where he's 
operating from?"

	"Well, if we knew that, we wouldn't need your extraordinary 
services," said Magnuson. "I'm having a file transferred to your 
datapad which contains a list of local agitators. Start with them and 
work your way to the Thinker."

	"Yes, sir," said Croft. Croft got up to go, but Magnuson gestured 
for him to take a seat.

	"There's one other, ah, matter, Mr. Croft."
	"Sir?"

	"I believe you are familiar with a Super Special named Dalbo 
Alto?"

	The Super Specials were the group of people formerly known as the 
"Gammas" in the days of the League, people with special mental powers 
who worked with Column agents on assignments.

	Seeing as Croft had actually discovered Dalbo and brought him in, 
he couldn't exactly deny knowledge of him. What trouble had Dalbo 
gotten into now?

	"It seems he's had some sort of crisis, some kind of mental 
breakdown," said General Magnuson. "The doctors are perplexed. I was 
wondering if you could have a look into it."

	"Me, sir? I'm no doctor," said Croft.

	"You're his friend," said Magnuson.

	Croft gave him a look.

	"Well, at least you know him," said Magnuson, reconsidering. 
"He's mentioned your name once or twice. See if you can find out what's 
gone wrong with him. The doctors are agitating to use more aggressive 
measures. I'm trying to hold them off, but if he doesn't get better, 
we'll have to try alternative treatments."
	Croft didn't quite know what Magnuson meant but he knew he didn't 
like the sound of it. "I'll look into it, sir."

	"Good," said Magnuson. "I knew you would."



	The "Super Specials" were housed on the upper floors of one of 
the most modern apartment buildings on August. Formerly they had been 
housed deep underground surrounded by intense security. The security 
was still there, but there was a new element... luxury. Each Super 
Special had elaborately furnished apartments, with the latest 
holoentertainment gear installed, and personal chefs and masseuses and 
playfriends to cater to their every needs. 

	While the furniture had changed, the environment hadn't; as soon 
as Croft stepped off the airlift, he was confronted with screaming and 
shrieking individuals who were running around in circles, yelling at 
the top of their lungs.

	"Well, it's good to see that some things haven't changed," he 
said to himself. He passed through several layers of guards, and saw an 
orderly in white trying to restrain a "Super Special" from hitting 
another "Super Special" with a giant wooden spoon. The fact that the 
giant wooden spoon was part of the Super Special's right hand didn't 
strike Croft as odd. Croft knew him. This could only be Crazy Rob.

	"Excuse me," said Croft, trying to get the attention of the 
orderly who was wrestling with Crazy Rob's spoon hand. "Can you tell me 
where I can find Dalbo Alto?"

	"He's there," said Crazy Rob, pointing with his spoon as he 
continued to struggle with the orderly.

	"Thanks," said Croft. He entered a room to see Dalbo sitting on 
the floor, mumbling to himself. A doctor with a datapad was staring at 
him. "Oh, you must be Croft," said the doctor. "I was told you were 
coming, though I don't see it will be much use."

	"What do you mean?" Croft asked.

	"He's nearly catatonic. Unresponsive to stimuli," said the 
doctor.

	Croft looked at Dalbo. Dalbo was looking at the floor, mumbling 
incoherently. "Did something trigger this?"

	"Not that we know of," said the doctor. "It just started, all of 
a sudden, a few weeks ago."
	"Hm," said Croft. "Dalbo?" he said.

	Dalbo didn't respond.

	"Dalbo!" said Croft, more loudly. Still no response. Croft slowly 
extended his foot. Dalbo gave no reaction. Croft pushed slightly.  That 
also got no reaction. Croft nudged a little more. Dalbo fell over on 
his side.

	"See what I mean?" said the doctor.

	A beefy male nurse entered the room. The doctor turned to confer 
with him for a moment.

	Suddenly, Dalbo made eye contact with Croft. He looked at Croft, 
then at the doorway, then back, and forth again.

	The doctor finished his short conversation and turned back. Dalbo 
suddenly looked vacant again, and started mumbling.

	"Let me have some time with him," said Croft. "Maybe I can figure 
out what's wrong."

	"You're welcome to try," said the doctor.

	Croft started to pull Dalbo up by the arm.

	"What are you doing?"
	"Going for a walk," said Croft. He got Dalbo on his feet, with 
some effort.

	"He's practically catatonic," said the doctor.

	Croft continued to pull Dalbo, who slowly walked on his own two 
feet. "But he's still a dynamite walker."

	They left the building and went to a nearby park. They were 
trailed by a very conspicuous pair of guards at a distance.

	Croft looked around, to make sure no one else was nearby.

	"All right, Dalbo, talk," he said in a low voice, continuing to 
pull Dalbo by the arm.

	"I knew you would come," said Dalbo.

	"I'm your hero," said Croft.

	"Not to touch," said Dalbo, pulling his arm away from Croft's 
grasp.

	"I see you're feeling better already," said Croft.

	"There was never anything wrong with me," said Dalbo.

	"That's highly debateable," said Croft. "So what's going on."
	"Cruelty. Insane cruelty."

	"Dalbo, I just pulled you by the arm," said Croft.

	"I was not referring to that," said Dalbo, glaring at him. "It's 
them. They want me to do terrible things."

	"What kind of terrible things?"
	"Tell them what people are thinking," said Dalbo.

	"Uh, Dalbo, you're a telepath. That's what you do," said Croft.

	"Yes, but until now I never selected ordinary people for torture 
and death."

	"Torture and death?" said Croft. "Ordinary people?"

	"Oh, look at all the blades of grass!" said Dalbo, looking down 
suddenly. Dalbo had a philosophy or a sense of aesthetics (Croft wasn't 
sure which) called Reductionist Stimulism. He could get excited by very 
small things--the scratches in a road, the shape of a group of clouds, 
and spend hours counting them and trying to discern patterns among 
them. At the moment Dalbo was fixated by grass.

	"Dalbo, don't get distracted," said Croft. "What are they having 
you do?"
	"They're having me go through the government," said Dalbo. 
"Looking into the plodding minds of the bureaucrats, looking for 
deception, disloyalty."

	"Really? That's a pretty intense kind of loyalty check, to read 
people's minds!" said Croft. In the old days, the Column had used Dalbo 
selectively, on enemy agents to ferret out information, but never to 
check on the loyalty of large numbers of their own people.	

	"They want me to report on everyone. Even people who merely 
dislike the government," said Dalbo. 

	"What happens then?" Croft ask

	"They take them away."
	"They take them... where?" Croft asked.

	"I don't know the specific location."

	"But you do know what happens to them?" Croft asked.

	Dalbo nodded. He saw it clearly in the minds of the Imperium 
officials.  "To torture, to brainwashing, and sometimes, to death," 
said Dalbo.

	"What? Who is doing this?" Croft asked.

	"I saw it in the minds of the creatures from Preventive 
Security," said Dalbo.

	Preventive Security was performing large scale loyalty checks? 
And torturing and killing people? Why hadn't Croft heard about this?

	"So that's why you got sick," said Croft, suddenly understanding. 
Of course Dalbo didn't have the stomach for such work.

	"Yes," said Dalbo. "Most of the people I looked at don't like the 
Imperium. But they shouldn't be killed for that." He looked down again. 
"Have you noticed the patterns in the grass?"
	"Yes, it's very interesting," said Croft. "But getting back, just 
for a moment, to non-flora subjects, can you tell me how long you've 
been on your little work strike?"
	"For a few weeks," said Dalbo. "They've tried a number of painful 
therapies."

	Croft could only wonder what that statement meant.

	"I think they're going to try invasive brain surgery next," Dalbo 
said.
	"What? How do you know-"

	"From the mind of one of the doctors," said Dalbo.

	Doctors? Butchers, it sounded like. But Croft knew that Dalbo 
could be a little paranoid at times. He started to say that he highly 
doubted they would do anything like that. But then he remembered that 
General Magnuson had hinted that they might have to try more 
"aggressive" treatment. Dalbo might be right.

	"These people you claimed were tortured, killed. I want their 
names," said Croft.

	"I don't know all their names."

	"Don't be so literal! I don't want all their names, just a few I 
can check on," said Croft.

	Dalbo rattled off a few of them. Croft took notes on his datapad.

	They kept walking as they talked. "Notice how the grass seems to 
bend in a north by northwesterly pattern?" Dalbo said.

	"Yes, wind, grass, green," said Croft, paying virtually no 
attention to this as his his mind was working in overtime. If Dalbo was 
telling the truth, there was no way he could go back to work for 
Preventive Security. But if he didn't go back to work, they would 
remove pieces of his brain. That solution didn't work for Croft either.

	"I'll have to take you away from Preventive Security," he 
concluded.

	"Yes," said Dalbo. "That's why I had them send for you. Violence 
is your department."

	"You really know how to flatter your rescuer," said Croft dryly.

	"So let's go," said Dalbo.

	"It's not quite that simple," said Croft. "See those two guards 
behind us?"

	Dalbo looked and extended a finger.

	"Yes, those two, the ones you are very conspicuously pointing at, 
that's very nice," said Croft. "You can put your hand down now, by the 
way, they see you."
	Dalbo lowered his arm. 

	"They might not like it if you suddenly went away," said Croft.

	"Why don't you shoot them?" Dalbo asked. "That's usually your 
solution to almost every situation."

	"Much as I might like to shoot them, in this very public place, 
it would make it clear that I'm working against the Imperium, and I 
might get in trouble for that," said Croft.

	"Oh," said Dalbo, as if he hadn't considered that. "So what do we 
do?"
	"You're going to go home now," said Croft. "Keep up the catatonic 
act for a few hours. Then start acting normally again."

	"Then they will want me to work for them again."

	"Delay them. Tell them you're feeling better, but want a few more 
days to rest. In the meantime, ask to see every one you know--every 
doctor, every nurse, and say random things to each of them."

	"Why?" Dalbo wanted to know. If he were reading Croft's mind, he 
would know. But mindreading took energy, and effort, and interest, not 
all of which Dalbo had all the time.

	Croft gave a great, big sigh. "Because when you do disappear, I 
don't want it to be on the record that I was the last person you talked 
to. People might get suspicious, you see?"
	"Oh," said Dalbo.

	"Then, on the fourth night, wait for me in your room," said Croft
	"You'll come and get me?" Dalbo said.

	"That's the general idea," said Croft.

	"Will there be much violence?" Dalbo wanted to know.
	"As much as you like," Croft assured him.
	"All right, then," said Dalbo.

	They started back towards the building. Croft's mind was racing. 
How was he going to rescue Dalbo? Where was he going to put him? More 
importantly, was Dalbo right about the Imperium? Dalbo and his "Super 
Specials" were notoriously paranoid. Croft had to find out for himself.

	Croft went to a public information terminal. He palmed a device 
which shorted out the surveillance system. Since this was a public 
terminal, it would be several hours before it was checked out.

	Croft typed in a false ID and a series of codes, enabling him to 
access a database he shouldn't have had access to, certainly not from a 
public terminal. But what he needed to do he didn't want done from his 
traceable terminal at work.

	Croft typed in some of the names Dalbo had given him. Each one 
brought up a name, a picture, and some background information. Also 
listed, more disturbingly, were "disloyal thoughts". Disloyal thoughts?

	Croft tried to find out where these people currently were. But 
each time he made the query, all he got back was "Classified--see 
department 19." The result was the same for each of them.

	When Croft tried to look up department 19, the terminal started 
to respond more slowly. Nonresponsive pages of data with many menu 
options came up, whose purpose was to have Croft spending his time 
looking through them.

	Croft looked up. On the other side of the building he saw a 
commotion at the far entrance.

	When the security officers reached his terminal, there was no one 
to find.



	Croft peeled off his finger pads as he exited the building. He 
was confident he had gotten out before security had seen him. But he 
was most disturbed by what he learned.

	The Imperium was killing people not for being traitors, not for 
committing disloyal acts, but merely for having disloyal thoughts. 
Ordinary people, as Dalbo had said. Members of the bureaucracy, 
teachers, officers of corporations, journalists, and others. Knowledge 
of this shook Croft to the core. He knew there had been censorship, and 
monitoring, but he didn't know the repression extended to his level. 
This was as bad as the old Slurian Union.

	But then, Emperor Karn used to be a high ranking officer in the 
former Slurian Union.

	Croft returned to his office in Imperial Security. Preston 
glanced up at him. "So? Did Magnuson give you an assignment?"

	"Yes," said Croft.

	"What is it?" Preston asked.

	"The Terrible Thinker," said Croft dully.

	"Him? The Thinker? Again? Not again! I thought that guy was 
dead!" said Preston. 

	"We have to try harder this time," said Croft.

	Preston gave a grin.

	"The director thinks that he's behind a group called the Freedom 
League which is seeking to overthrow the Imperium," said Croft.

	"That sounds like his style. Do you need any help?" said Preston.

	Croft's eyes narrowed. Preston had said it so innocently, but 
nothing random could be trusted that happened now. Could Preston be 
trusted? Croft had worked with him for hundreds of years. He had 
trusted him more times than he could count. He knew Preston better than 
almost anyone else in the galaxy. If he couldn't trust Preston, which 
person could he trust?

	But on the other hand, people do change.

	"Sure I can use your help," said Croft easily. 

	Croft told Preston about the data that Magnuson had provided. 
Preston sifted through it. "It says here that a group of professors at 
Sarney U may be plotting to overthrow the government. Professors?"

	"I see it too," said Croft calmly. "They've been monitored for 
some time. We even have the time and location of their next meeting. 
It's tonight"

	"Is this really worth checking out?" said Preston. "I mean, I 
can't really imagine a bunch of teachers leading an armed revolution."

	Croft, aware that everything, including even his facial 
expressions, were being monitored, tried to look thoughtful. "I think 
so, yes." He changed the subject. "Have you had lunch yet?"



	They took a walk in a nearby park, not far from the one that 
Croft and Dalbo went to earlier that day. Croft told Preston what he 
had learned. Preston looked surprised and shocked. "They're killing 
ordinary people? For having impure thoughts?"

	"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself."

	"Maybe this department 19 you mentioned is some sort of prison," 
said Preston.

	"If it were, they would be listed as inmates. The only reason 
they wouldn't be listed if they were eliminated, and if you didn't want 
it widely known they were eliminated," said Croft. He looked around to 
see if they were being followed. He didn't think so, but couldn't be 
sure.

	"But if this were going on, why wouldn't we know about it?" 
Preston asked.

	"They've been having us go against the drug dealers and arm 
smugglers, while they've been having Preventative Security doing their 
dirty work," said Croft. 

	"But still, Dalbo couldn't scan more than a handful of people a 
day. How many people could they be doing this to?"
	"I don't know," said Croft. "But I get the feeling it may be a 
lot more. I never liked the look of those Preventive Security people, 
did you?"
	"No," said Preston. "Most of them are former Slurian NGB agents."

	"With little emphasis on the former," said Croft. "And evidently 
old habits die hard."

	They walked in silence for a while. Then Preston said, "So what 
do we do now? Lodge a protest?"

	"I think if we did we would be sent to department 19," said 
Croft. "I think..."

	"Oh no, not again," said Preston. "I can see where this is going. 
Not again Croft! I'm tired of overthrowing governments. Can't we have a 
break?"
	"I take it you're in agreement with me, then," Croft said, 
translating Preston's sentiment.

	"Yeah, I guess so," said Preston. He glanced down. "Does this 
mean you can take your hand off your blaster now?"
	Croft did so. 

	"You think you'd know me, by now," said Preston. "How many 
hundreds of years have we worked together?"

	"Oh, I never had any doubt about you," said Croft, falling into 
liespeak so easily that he didn't realize it.

	"Uh huh," said Preston, interpreting Croft perfectly. "So where 
do we start?"
	"First, we stop those professors at Sarney U. from being sent to 
department 19, or whatever the bureaucratic equivalent for having your 
brains blown out are."

	But that didn't prove so simple. Later that day, General Magnuson 
called Croft on the intraoffice holocom to inquire about his progress. 
Croft, speaking to the holographic image of the director, reported that 
they were planning to infiltrate the meeting of the professors that 
night.

	"Good," said Magnuson. "I've been reading some reports about 
them. If their meeting is subversive, as we expect, have them brought 
in for questioning."
	"Yes sir," said Croft.

	"You can drop them off at the Preventive Security office across 
the street from our headquarters," said Magnuson.

	"Preventive Security?" Croft inquired. "Isn't this our 
investigation?"

	"Of course, but Preventive Security usually handle interrogations 
of this kind," said Magnuson. "They're professionals in this area."
	"Uh, of course," said Croft. Professional torturers; professional 
assassins; Preventive Security was simply another name for the old 
Slurian NGB.

	"Also, once you have them in custody, we'll want you to gather 
their family members," said General Magnuson.

	"Family members?" said Croft, trying not to sound as alarmed as 
he felt.

	"Just the immediate family members and associates, for routine 
questioning," said General Magnuson. "When the branch is rotted, 
sometimes you have to go after the entire tree, eh?"
	"What a metaphor. Quite a good point, sir," said Croft. He signed 
off and the image of the General disappeared. Croft saw Preston staring 
at him. As they were in their offices, which were surely monitored, 
Croft only said, in a dull tone, "Everything will be fine." And he gave 
a moronic smile to emphasize the point.



	That night Croft was sitting in an empty classroom at Sarney U, 
with his feet up on a desk. Preston casually entered the classroom. 
Croft cocked and eyebrow.

	"It's done," said Preston. "Wired for sound and visual."

	"Good," said Croft. He checked his chrono, and opened his 
datapad, setting it to the frequency of the monitoring devices. A 
classroom two stories below them appeared on the screen. Professors 
were filing into the room.

	Croft pressed the record button. They would need this, for 
evidence, if the professors were taken in for questioning.

	"Is the backup team standing by, ready to make the arrests?" 
Croft asked.

	"Yes," said Preston. 

	The professors shuffled into the classroom. In a few minutes, the 
meeting began.

	"It's obvious the current system can't work," said one professor.

	"It always loses?" said another.

	"In most of the simulations, yes," said the first professor.

	"Then we'll just have to readjust the variables," said the third 
professor. "Maybe if we allocated more political power to the Imperium, 
those playing the Imperium's side would have a fairer chance."

	"We have to make the game balanced," said another professor. "If 
we make it too easy to overthrow the Imperium, no one is going to want 
to play the game on the Imperium's side. Everyone will want to play the 
game from the democracy insurgency side."

	"It's a computer game," said Preston. "They're not talking about 
overthrowing the Imperium. They're talking about making a computer 
game." He tried to sound astonished.

	"Imagine that," said Croft. "I guess it's some kind of political 
simulation."

	"I wonder how the previous monitoring attempts failed to pick up 
on this," said Preston, trying to sound puzzled.



	It was a question they were both asked the following morning. 
"All our reports indicated they were planning real subversion, not some 
game play," said General Magnuson.

	"You can listen to the tapes yourself, sir," said Croft. "It's 
very clear what they were talking about."
	"But how could the previous reports have missed this?" Magnuson 
asked.

	"Who conducted the previous listentaps, sir?" Croft asked 
innocently.

	"Well, it was Preventive Security, of course," said Magnuson.

	"They are a less experienced agency," said Croft. "Perhaps they 
misinterpreted, or exaggerated a little bit in their reports."
	"Possibly," said Magnuson. He frowned, then nodded. "Very well. 
Keep sifting through the data. You're both dismissed."
	They didn't talk about the matter further until they went out to 
lunch. While they were on the street Croft said, "Are you sure you 
weren't picked up on any of the monitors when you warned the 
professors?"
	"What do you think I am, an amateur?" said Preston.

	"Good work," said Croft, nodding.

	"It was your idea," said Preston. He changed the subject. "What 
do we do next? If we keep coming up with dead ends they're going to 
start to get suspicious," said Preston.

	"I know," said Croft, looking around. He had a feeling they were 
being watched, but he couldn't find the spotter. Was he just being 
paranoid? He probably was being paranoid, he decided, but he was 
equally sure he was being followed. With Croft, both could be true.

	"The clock has started to tick, Crofto. We have to be thinking of 
strategy," Preston reminded him.

	"I have a more immediate deadline," said Croft. "I have to get 
Dalbo out of lockdown in three days or else he'll be scheduled for a 
radical brainectomy."

	"That's pretty tough," Preston opined.

	"Getting him out shouldn't be too difficult; the problem is where 
to put him," said Croft.

	"A safehouse?" Preston suggested.
	"Somehow I don't think any of our safehouses will be too safe." 
Croft said. 
	"Why don't we make one of our own?" Preston said.
	"A good idea," said Croft.

	The next day director Magnuson provided them with more 
information about "subversives" planning a meeting in a residential 
home outside of the capital. "I want those subversives brought in and 
interrogated," said Magnuson.

	"Yes sir," said Croft.

	They studied the data file at their desk, but only talked about 
it after work.

	"A journalist who wrote, or rather tried to write an article 
critical of the Imperium, before it was censored." said Preston, 
reading aloud. "A school teacher who made an unflattering comment about 
Emperor Karn to his school kids. And a mechanical engineer who shorted 
out the power grid for an entire city block for nearly an hour, 
apparently by accident."

	"Economic sabotage," said Croft, smiling grimly.

	"It's reminding me more and more of the Slurian Union," said 
Preston. "Are we really going to take these guys in?"

	"No," said Croft.

	"The Chief will be doubly suspicious if we let these guys get 
away," said Preston.

	"We're not going to be the ones who let them get away," said 
Croft. "By the way, don't look directly at two o'clock, but do you 
notice the man, over there, standing by the fountain?"

	"Yes," said Preston, barely glancing in that direction.

	"He was watching us yesterday," said Croft. "And that's just one 
I can spot."

	"They're watching us," said Preston. "Unsure of our loyalties."

	"With good reason," said Croft. 

	"So how are we going to pull this one off?"
	"It would be almost impossible to do ourselves. So we're going to 
get outside help." 

	"From who?"

	Croft put an arm around Preston's shoulder. "From our good 
friends at Preventive Security," said Croft.



	That evening, Croft and Preston and a team from Imperial 
Intelligence were huddled across the street from the apartment complex 
where the subversives were planning to meet.

	"We're all ready to go," Preston said formally. Since they 
weren't sure who else in Imperial Intelligence they could or couldn't 
trust, they had to keep up the act even in front of their own team.

	"When I give the word," said Croft. He looked at the surrounding 
street, and frowned. "Do you notice those two people sitting in the 
aircar, over there?"

	Preston looked, as if noticing it for the first time. "Yeah."

	"Notice their posture, the way they're looking," said Croft. 
"I'll bet they're lookout men for the subversives."

	"How can you know that?" said one of the agents.

	"A few hundred years of intuition," said Croft contemptuously.

	"Can you be sure?" said one of the agents.

	"Let's find out," said Croft, putting his hand on his blaster. He 
and Preston and two other operatives casually walked across the street, 
ignoring the aircar. It wasn't until they got across the street that 
they suddenly veered towards the parked aircar. Croft and his men drew 
their blasters. 

	"Hands up, get out of the vehicle!" Croft snapped.

	The two, looking surprised, did just that. Only Croft noticed 
that Preston swiftly walked over to the far left side of the car, while 
everyone's attention was focused on two getting out of the right side 
of the car.

	"What do you think you're doing?" said one of the two.

	"Identify yourselves," said Croft cooly.

	"I'm Tom Healy. Preventive Security," said one of the men. 

	"You're under arrest," said Croft crisply.

	"On what charge?" said Healy.

	"Interfering with official business," said Croft. "Take them 
away."

	"You can't do that!" said Healy.

	Preston, who had smoothly returned to the other side of the car, 
said, "Actually, yes we can." He raised his blaster.

	Both men were marched off as they rejoined the rest of their 
forces on the other side of the street.

	"Should we begin the assault, sir?" said one of Croft's 
operatives.

	"Yes, as soon as we get these two locked down," said Croft. "I 
just want-"

	He was cut off in midsentence by an explosion that sent them 
tumbling to the ground. When they looked up, they saw that the aircar 
that the Preventive Security agents had arrived in was in flames.

	Croft gave the Preventive Security operatives a sharp glare, and 
sent his agents in to arrest the subversives. But, when they got there, 
he already knew they would find nothing.



	"Botched!" said Magnuson. "This whole mission was botched."
	"I agree completely, sir," said Croft.

	Magnuson looked surprised. "You're taking responsibility for 
this?"

	"No sir," said Croft. "It was all the fault of Preventive 
Security."

	"You shouldn't have arrested them! You had no authority-"

	"Sir, there were unidentified armed men in the vicinity of our 
stakeout. Preventive Security didn't tell us they were going to be 
there. Neither did you. You did know, didn't you?"
	"Well, I knew in a general sense they were monitoring the 
situation," said Magnuson, looking away quickly for a moment. "But the 
commotion of your arresting them alerted the subversives."

	"The subversives were alerted before we even reached the scene," 
said Croft firmly.

	"How do you know that?" said Magnuson.

	"They planted a bomb in the car of the Preventive Security 
agents," said Croft. "They knew they were being watched long before we 
arrived."

	"How could they have planted a bomb while the Preventive Security 
agents were in the car?" Magnuson asked.

	"They're amateurs, sir," said Croft. "This really isn't the kind 
of work that they're suited for."

	"What do you think they're suited for?"
	Croft shrugged. "Maybe checking luggage at the spaceport."

	"Croft!"

	"Or maybe directing traffic on our busy thruways."

	"Croft!"

	"I'm sorry sir, but you did ask the question."
	The Chief glared at them. "Dismissed."



	General Pano Zarucki was the elite commander of the Preventive 
Security force. And right now he wasn't very happy. Normally, he would 
have the source of his unhappiness interrogated, or executed, or both, 
but in this case he had to act very delicately. Clifford Croft wasn't 
just an ordinary citizen who could be made to disappear in department 
19. 

	But Croft would pay for his insolence. Twice now he had made 
Preventive Security look foolish. Preventive Security already had an 
intense rivalry with Imperial Intelligence. Many of Imperial 
Intelligence's agents were former Column agents from the old League; 
many of Preventive Security's agents were former NGB agents from the 
former Slurian Union. Emperor Karn had purposely set up these competing 
agencies to keep an eye on each other. 

	Croft's actions merely increased the intensity of the antagonism. 
Zarucki couldn't take action against Croft directly, but if Croft had 
an accident... or could be proved to be a traitor.....

	An officer wearing an eyepatch entered his officer and saluted. 
"You called for me, sir?"

	"Colonel T'keya Latr," said Zarucki. "I take it you are 
acquainted with the one called Clifford Croft?"

	"That would be an understatement, sir," said Latr, tensing up at 
the name.

	"In your former occupation as an NGB agent you went up against 
Croft time and time again--and failed," said Zarucki. "Hardly an 
inspiring record."
	"Sir, I-"

	"If it makes you feel better, the reason I am giving you this 
assignment is that when it comes to Croft we have no one with a record 
of success. At least you are experienced with him and know a little 
what to expect in term of his abilities and tactics."
	"Yes sir," said Latr. "You wish me to eliminate him?"

	"No, nothing so dramatic," said Zarucki. "Nor do I think you are 
even capable of that job."

	Latr flinched, but said nothing.

	"Instead your mission is merely to gather information," said 
Zarucki. "Gather evidence showing this man is disloyal to the 
Imperium."

	"Yes sir!" said Latr, giving a broad smile.

	"No crude fabrications, Latr," said Zarucki sharply, reading 
something into that smile that he both recognized and disliked. "I 
don't want anything that would reflect badly on you, or this office, 
when your information is later disproved. I want real evidence."
	"But... what if he is loyal?"

	"Then see that some harm comes his way," said Zarucki.



	A few hours later, Latr was sitting in his own spacious office. 
An operative entered and saluted.

	"Ah, yes, Captain Branch," said Latr. 

	"Reporting as ordered, sir," said Branch. Juliet Branch was an 
operative with Preventive Security.

	"Have you ever heard of a man named Clifford Croft?" Colonel Latr 
asked.

	Branch tried to hide her surprise at the mention of the name. 
"Croft, sir?"

	"Yes," said Latr. "He's an operative with Imperial Intelligence."

	"I haven't worked with any operatives with Imperial Intelligence 
recently sir," she said, phrasing her answer carefully.

	Colonel Latr didn't notice the distinction, or her failure to 
answer the question directly. "Well, Croft, he's a troublemaker, and we 
suspect he's a traitor."

	"A traitor, sir?" said Branch.

	"That's what you have to find out. Get the evidence, and bring it 
to me," said Latr.

	"And if there is no evidence to be found?"
	Latr glared at her. "Then we'll handle this another way."	



	The following day Croft was preparing to head out with Preston to 
check out some not-too-promising leads on the Freedom League when Croft 
and Preston were called to General Magnuson's office. When he entered 
Magnuson greeted him, and asked how the investigation was going. 

	"Preston and I were about to go out and pursue some leads now, 
sir," said Croft. Of course Magnuson knew that already, if he watched 
the live holo feed from Croft's office.

	"Ah, yes, that's what I want to talk to you about," said 
Magnuson. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take agent Preston off the 
case."
	"Why, sir?" Preston asked.

	"There are new reports of a drug smuggling ring operating off of 
Karis. I want you to look into it."

	"But Croft and I usually work together," said Preston.

	"Yes, well, this time we cannot afford to have all our top 
expertise operating on one assignment," said Magnuson. "Not to worry, 
agent Preston, you can pick a small team to accompany you."

	"Thank you, sir," said Preston.

	"All right, I guess I can handle this alone," said Croft.

	"There's no need, agent Croft," said Magnuson. He pressed a 
button, and a young man with a blank expression entered his office. 

	"Agent Elmer Banks reporting for duty, sir," the newcomer saluted 
crisply.

	General Magnuson returned the salute. "Agent Banks, meet your new 
partner, agent Croft."
	"Agent Croft," said Banks. "It's an honor to be working with you, 
sir."
	Croft looked at Banks. He looked young and incompetent. Then he 
looked at Magnuson. Magnuson looked old and serious. Then he turned 
back to Banks. He still looked young and incompetent. "Ah, no offense, 
sir, but I think on a delicate matter like this, I'd prefer to work 
solo," said Croft.

	General Magnuson pretended to look puzzled. "You were prepared to 
work with Agent Preston."
	"Well, Preston is very... experienced. He won't get in my way. 
How long have you been with Imperial Intelligence, Agent Banks?" Croft 
asked.

	"Two years, sir," said Banks woodenly.

	"Then it will be a good learning experience for him. I want you 
to help train our new agents," said Magnuson. He looked hard at Croft. 
"Is there a problem, Agent Croft?" he asked, his tone growing cold.
	"No sir," said Croft.

	"Then you're dismissed."

	As they left the director's office, Banks turned to Croft. "So, I 
understand we are going out to pursue some leads."
	"In a little while."
	"What's the delay?" Banks asked.

	"I have a little more research to do at my terminal, first," said 
Croft.

	He sat down at his terminal. Preston sat down at his, opposite 
Croft's. Banks stood a few feet away, while Croft typed.

	Croft stopped typing. He looked up at Banks. "Don't you have 
someplace to be?"

	"My assignment was to stay with you," said Banks.

	"I expect we'll be eating and sleeping in different places," said 
Croft.

	"Of course," said Banks.

	"Don't you have a desk?" Croft asked.

	"Yes," said Banks.

	"Then go there. I'll comm you when I'm ready," said Croft.

	Banks reluctantly left.

	Croft looked at Preston who looked back at him. It would be very 
suspicious now if they both decided to take another walk in the park 
right now.

	Instead, Croft started typing in his terminal. After a few 
seconds, Preston did the same. Under the desk, meanwhile, Croft started 
to softly press on Preston's boot, in code. Slowly, they 
pressure/tapped messages to each other.

	HE IS CLEARLY A SPY, Preston tapped.

	WERE ALL SPIES, Croft replied.

	SPYING ON US, said Preston.

	THATS PRETTY CLEAR, said Croft.

	DO YOU THINK THEYRE ON TO US, Preston asked.

	IF THEY KNEW FOR SURE WED BE IN DEPT 19, Croft replied.

	WHAT DO WE DO, Preston asked.

	ILL SET UP A SECURE MEANS OF COMM, Croft replied.

	WHAT ABOUT DALBO, Preston asked.

	That's right! Croft was supposed to rescue him tonight.

	DO YOU WANT ME TO DO IT, Preston asked.

	NO, ILL HANDLE IT, said Croft. Dalbo only trusted him.

	WHAT ABOUT YOUR TAIL, Preston asked.

	ILL GET RID OF HIM, Croft replied.

	He looked up at Preston. "Good luck with your hunt for those drug 
dealers on Karis, buddy,"

	"Same to you, Croftie," said Preston. "And have fun with your new 
partner."
	"Yes," said Croft dully. "Lots and lots of fun."

	Croft commed Banks and he appeared, a little too quickly, as if 
he had been lurking somewhere nearby. They then went to check on some 
leads that Croft was fairly sure would prove fruitless. Banks watched 
him intently as the day wore on, taking mental notes, no doubt, for his 
report later to his superiors. Croft put on a good show for him, 
speaking as little as possible, offering as little explanations as he 
could. Finally, by early evening, when they had discovered nothing of 
value (as Croft had hoped) Croft told Banks that they were going to 
quit for the day.

	"What do you mean?" Banks asked.

	"I mean, go home," said Croft. "You do have a home, don't you?"
	"Yes sir," said Banks.

	"Then go there."

	Banks looked reluctant. "Shouldn't we check out some more leads?"
	"Tomorrow."

	"The leads might get cold."

	"We'll warm them up," said Croft, not even pretending to try and 
say anything coherent.

	Banks looked reluctant. Croft waved him a cheerful goodbye and 
started walking.

	Croft walked casually for two blocks without looking back. Then 
he turned around a corner and waited. A few seconds later agent Banks 
turned the corner.

	"Your tailing technique needs some work," Croft said.

	"I, just wanted to be sure you weren't doing any investigating 
without me," said Banks. "The Chief said I was to be present with you 
at all investigations."

	"And be assured you will be," said Croft. "But if you follow me 
home, I might be tempted to lock you up in my basement and practice 
some of my lesser known interrogation techniques on you."

	"Oh. I'll be going now," said Banks.

	"Very good," said Croft. "Goodbye. Goodnight. It's been a 
pleasure."
	Croft walked a few more blocks. After he was reasonably sure he 
was no longer being followed, he changed course. In a few minutes he 
was strapped to a gravitator, heading across the city. As he flew he 
got some equipment in hand, notably the sensor jammer. He aligned it to 
a certain frequency and then flew to apartment building housing the 
Super Specials, specifically to the window showing Dalbo's bedroom. And 
Dalbo. Croft hit the button that disabled the security systems and flew 
right up against the window. 

	But Dalbo was nowhere to be found.

	This was not part of the plan.

	It would take only a few minutes for security to be alerted and 
to discover the location of the security breach.

	Thoughts raced through Croft's mind. Had Dalbo been moved? Had he 
been already given brain surgery? If so, there was nothing he could do 
for him now.

	At that moment Dalbo entered the room. He seemed totally 
unsurprised to see Croft strapped to a gravitator, hanging outside his 
window. He was slowly eating something from a small plate.

	Croft used a silent laser to cut through the glass, and then 
suction cups attached to his hand to slowly lower the section of glass 
against the frame of the building. All the while Dalbo continued to 
watch him with wide eyes, still eating slowly.

	"Come on," Croft hissed. "Get aboard!"

	Dalbo slowly came to the window and looked down. "Scared," he 
said.

	"Well you won't be scared when they rearrange pieces of your 
brain."

	"A valid point," said Dalbo. He gingerly climbed on board the 
gravitator (this one was a two seater) and strapped himself in, careful 
not to look down again.

	As soon as Dalbo was strapped in Croft gunned the engine and they 
headed away. "Where were you?" said Croft.

	"Dinner," said Dalbo.

	"I told you to wait for me in your room."
	"Tonight they had sturinberry for dessert," said Dalbo.

	"Well, if I bring you back, maybe they'll give you some more 
after your brain surgery," Croft said.

	"Where are you taking me?" Dalbo asked.

	"Someplace safe."

	"Safe?" said Dalbo.

	"Probably safe."
	Preston had set up a safehouse on one of the underground levels, 
a small, windowless room. 

	When they arrived Dalbo immediately said, "I don't like it."
	"Sorry," said Croft. He indicated some boxed supplies. "You 
probably won't like the food either. If you're unhappy, I encourage you 
to go out and wander around for a few minutes. It shouldn't take longer 
than that for the security cameras to locate you and alert the 
authorities."

	"You're cruel," said Dalbo.

	"Yes, I'm the cruelest rescuer you've ever met," said Croft. 
"Here," he said, indicating a medium sized box.

	"What is it?" said Dalbo. He squealed as he opened it.

	"Yes, it's hundreds of plastic toothpicks, all in different size, 
shapes, and colors. I figure you can spend weeks working out all the 
different arrangements and combinations."

	"Very gooood," said Dalbo, already starting to count and examine 
them.

	"All right," said Croft. "Listen, I'll be back when I can. All 
right, Dalbo?"
	But he received no reply. Dalbo was already focused on his newest 
joy.





Chapter 3: A Visit to Levi



	

	The next day Croft  and Banks were summoned to Magnuson's office 
again. "We have uncovered additional information about potential 
subversives." 

	"Really?" said Croft.

	"Some subversives were seen in the company of former senator Phil 
Beagan," said Magnuson, watching him carefully.

	Beagan had been a senator in the days of the old League. Croft 
had met him, once or twice, and by the way Magnuson was looking at him, 
it seemed he knew it.

	"Beagan is a subversive?" said Croft. "Beagan, working with the 
Terrible Thinker? I find that hard to believe."

	"Oh, we don't think the esteemed former senator is a subversive," 
said Magnuson. "At least, not actively so. However, he may have been 
duped by this so-called Freedom League. Senator Beagan isn't in any 
trouble. All we would like to do is to have a talk with him."

	"They why don't you?" Croft asked.

	"Unfortunately, the good Senator has disappeared," said Magnuson. 
"I would like you to follow up with his known associates and see if you 
can't locate him." He paused. "Is this a problem?"

	"No sir," said Croft. 

	"I assure you no harm will come to him, if he cooperates," said 
Magnuson.

	"Of course, sir," said Croft. He turned to go.

	"There's one other matter," said Magnuson. "You recall your 
friend Dalbo Alto who you saw a few days ago?"

	"Friend is a strong word when it comes to Dalbo, sir," said 
Croft.

	"Yes, well. Apparently he has escaped from the complex," said 
Magnuson.
	"Escaped?" Croft said, trying to sound only mildly surprised.

	"And with outside help," said Magnuson. He looked hard at Croft. 
"What did he say to you when you visited him, Croft?"
	"Not much," said Croft. "He just mumbled how he felt confused."

	"Yes, well, a few hours after speaking to you, he appeared to 
return to normal. Then he met with a number of people over the course 
of the next few days. And then he left."

	"You think one of the people he spoke to helped him to escape?"
	"Or gave him the idea to," said Magnuson, his eyes on Croft. "Do 
you have any idea who that might have been?"
	"No sir," said Croft. "I don't know any of the medical staff."

	"Yes, that's what I thought, but I thought I'd ask, just for the 
record," said Magnuson. "Poor fellow, I don't think he can survive on 
his own. It would be a tragedy if anything were to happen to him." He 
stared hard at Croft.

	"Yes, it would," said Croft. "Would you like me to join in the 
search for him?"

	"No, that's being adequately handled by others," said Magnuson. 
"Start your search for Senator Beagan."

	"Yes sir."

	"And keep me informed," said Magnuson.

	"Yes sir, we will," said Croft, glancing at Banks.



	Senator Phil Beagan, in league with the Freedom League? Not only 
was that linguistically redundant, but the idea of Phil Beagan working 
for the Terrible Thinker was impossible to believe. Which either meant 
that Beagan wasn't working for the Terrible Thinker, and this was some 
sort of political vendetta by the Imperium against him, or else he was 
working for the Thinker without realizing it--which was very possible, 
given how the Thinker liked to work through third parties.

	Croft keyed through the list of known associates that Magnuson 
had provided him. The name of Magnuson's former chief of staff stood 
out. He might know where Magnuson was.

	Wait a minute. If Croft really was going after Beagan, and he 
found him, what would he do? Turn him over to Imperial Intelligence? 
That wasn't a very good idea either. Not for a moment did he believe 
that General Magnuson simply wanted to have a "chat" with him. After 
his interrogation, whatever remained of Beagan would be shipped to 
Department 19 for slaughter.

	No, he couldn't turn Beagan over to Imperial Intelligence. Croft 
would wait and decide what to do after he had found and talked to 
Beagan. But having a private chat with the Senator would not be easy to 
do with his personal spy dogging his every step.

	Croft passed Preston in the hallway.

	"How's it going, Cliffie?" Preston asked.

	"Fine," said Croft. "How's the weather today?"
	"Windy," said Preston.

	"Just like yesterday," said Croft. Both he and Preston ignored 
Banks, who was standing there, taking in every word they were saying.

	"I got home just in time for the gravity ball holotournament 
yesterday," said Croft.

	"Really? Did you catch the whole thing?" Preston asked.

	"Yes, it went exactly as expected," said Croft. "Ramirez won."

	"Well, that's what we thought would happen," said Preston.

	"I don't think he's going to win if they keep challenging him to 
rematches, though," said Croft.

	"Really?" said Preston.

	"Yes, I think he could lose his title in a few days, maybe a 
week," Croft added.

	"Well, I'm going to be on August for a few more days before I 
head out to Karis. I'll have to tune in and see," said Preston.

	"You do that," said Croft. He casually made his goodbyes and 
parted.

	"I didn't know you liked sports, Agent Croft," said Banks.

	"You can add that to your next report. Just make sure you put a 
"u" in holotournament," said Croft.

	Banks made an unhappy face. "I'm not here to spy on you."

	"I know," said Croft. "If you were, you wouldn't be doing a very 
good job of it."

	"Are you this hard on all your new partners?"

	Croft gave no answer, and just walked casually down the hallway.

	

	They spent much of the day following up on some of their leads, 
including Beagan's former chief of staff, but to Croft's lack of 
surprise, none of them could be found. All had gone into hiding. But 
Croft really did want to Senator Beagan, if only to get more 
information on the Freedom League. Was it a genuine resistance 
organization, or merely a puppet tool of the Terrible Thinker?

	While Croft didn't directly know any people connected to the 
former Senator, he did know someone who was very likely to be a 
dissenter. Levi Esherkol. Levi was a scientist, perhaps the most 
brilliant in the Imperium (and the League before that). But Levi, like 
most intellectuals, was all squishy, liberal, and in favor of human 
rights. Levi tolerated the Standard Imperium, because of his personal 
connections to Steven Quick and War Admiral Norman North, but early on 
he made it clear he would have nothing to do with Emperor Karn's 
Imperium. (Did he know something that Croft didn't?) If there was some 
dissident movement, Levi would know about it. If Croft could find Levi; 
if Levi hadn't already gone into hiding.

	Croft did a search on the Imperial August database. After a while 
a name appeared; a "Professor Esherkol" was teaching a course on basic 
physics at Sarney U. Odd. While Levi occasionally taught from time to 
time, why would he teach such a low level course? Croft toggled 
further. There was a class in session right now.

	Croft and Banks headed over to the university. Banks asked the 
predictable question of where they were going and why; but Croft wasn't 
in a talking mood. He spotted no fewer than two agents following them 
on the way. Other Imperial Intelligence operatives? Preventive 
Security? Another of the Imperium's many spy agencies? Things could get 
crowded.

	When they got to the university Croft made his way to a certain 
classroom. He was very, very surprised by what he saw when he entered.

	He saw perfectly ordinary, perfectly bored looking students 
sitting in a classroom. And a dog, standing on a desk, teaching them.

	Not just any dog. This was a small fluffy animal, with beige fur 
and a pert nose, had spectacles on the end of his nose. 

	Croft recognized him immediately. This was Quick, the wonder dog, 
a genetically modified (type 212(b)) Pomeranian designed by Levi to 
have a genuis intelligence. But Croft was unaware that Quick had turned 
to a career of teaching.

	"Arf arf arf arf arf!" said the dog. A device in front of the dog 
spoke in a neutral tone: "And this is how the waves refract after 
bouncing off the surface."

	"Arf rufff!" said the dog.

	"Are there any questions?" said the translating device.

	One student raised his hand. 

	"Arf!"

	"Professor Quick, how do the particles of light actually bend 
when they go through water?"

	"Arf arf aaarf arf arf ruff ruff roah, arf arf rufffff!"

	"You foolish human, haven't you been reading your course 
materials? Reread them and then answer the question tomorrow yourself 
in class."

	"Arffff rough!"

	"Class is dismissed."

	The students started to file out of the class.

	Croft and Banks made their way to the front. Quick, instantly 
recognizing them, stuck out his pink tongue and gave a small smile.

	"Hey, I see you remember me," said Croft.

	"Rough arf arf arf arf!"

	"Of courseI do. Do you think I have dog food between my ears?"
	"That's some translation device," said Croft. "But when all 
you're capable of saying is "arf" and "ruff" and "roah", how does that 
translate into so many different words?"

	"Aaarf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf ruff roah!"

	"Silly human, there are over 120 different inflections of 'arf', 
although your primitive ears cannot distinguish them. They can also be 
used in different patterns," said the translation voice.

	"Well, that answers one question," said Croft.

	"Arf arf arf ruff!"

	"You're here to see Levi," said the translation device.

	"That's a good guess."
	"Aarrf roah arf arf!"

	"You never come to see me," Quick complained via translator.

	"The galaxy's been keeping me very busy lately," said Croft. "If 
I knew you were here I would have brought you a bone or something."

	"Arrf arrf roah!"

	"I would prefer a souffle," said the translator.

	"Ah, yeah," said Croft. "Listen, can you tell me where Levi is?"

	"Arf arf arf!"

	"Who's he?" 

	Croft turned to indicate Banks. "Him? He's my personal interior 
decorator. We just stopped off on the way home where he's going to tell 
me what kind of rugs to put on my walls."

	"Arf arf arf arf!"	

	"Your line of thinking is as warped as ever."

	"I love you too. Can you tell me where Levi is?" Croft asked.

	"Arf arf arf arf," said Quick.

	"I am not sure he wants to see you," said the translation device.

	"Why wouldn't he want to see me?" said Croft, with a glance 
towards Banks. "I'm so warm and lovable."

	"Arf arf roah!" 

	"Let me call him and ask," said the translation device.

	"Tell him it's important," Croft suggested.

	"Arf arf arf arf."

	"You always say that. Is there anything new you'd like me to tell 
him?" Quick asked, via translator.

	"Don't get sassy with me, little dog," said Croft.

	Quick stuck out his tongue and then touched a small contact on 
his collar. There was static and then a voice said, "Eh?"

	"Arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf," said Quick.

	There was silence on the other end.

	Croft reached down to the level of the dog collar. Quick snarled. 
Croft pulled back, a bit, but raising his voice, said, "Levi, it's me, 
Croft. I need to speak to you."

	There was silence again.

	"Levi, remember me, Croft? We fought the Insects, Slurians, and a 
bunch of other bad guys together?"

	"Yes, I remember," said Levi, his voice sounding tinny though the 
tiny transmitter. "All right, Croft, I talk to you. Alone."

	Croft couldn't be happier. "Whatever you say, Levi."

	"Quick, arf arf arf arf ruff!" came Levi's voice.

	Croft raised an eyebrow. Now that was truly bizarre.

	"Arf!" said Quick, wagging his tail as he closed the contact. A 
paw swipe turned off the translation device.

	"Are you going to take us to Levi?"

	"Grrr!" said Quick, baring his little teeth.

	"I mean, me, take me to Levi."

	"Ruff!" said Quick, wagging his little tail again.

	"Do you need any help getting off the desk?" Croft asked.

	"Arf!" said Quick, leaping to a nearby chair, and then onto the 
floor.

	"You're a spry little thing, aren't you?" said Croft.

	"Arf!" said Quick, trotting to the door.

	Croft turned to Banks. "Well, I'm going to have to leave you 
behind on this one."
	"But I was ordered to accompany you everywhere!"

	"Well, you can spy on me later."

	"I'm not a spy," said Banks.

	"Then what are you doing working for Imperial Intelligence? 
Perhaps you'd be happier in another field, such as food preparation or 
android lubrication."

	Banks glared at him as Croft gave a merry wave.

	They hailed an aircab. Quick turned on the translation device to 
give the driver directions. If the driver thought there was anything 
strange about taking directions from a dog, he didn't say so.

	Croft looked at the little dog quizzically. Quick looked back at 
him with his big black eyes, twisting his head slightly.

	"Teaching?" said Croft.

	"Yes," said Quick through the translation device. "I am trying to 
raise the educational level of humanity."

	"Maybe if you work extra hard we'll all be as smart as dogs 
someday."

	"Your attempts at humor are as strained as always," said the 
translation device.

	"It's amazing how much nuance there can be in little arfs and 
ruffs," Croft said.

	They arrived at a tall building in downtown August. Quick 
indicated they should head for the top floor. They arrived at a 
penthouse apartment. Croft knew it was Levi's immediately because (a) 
it was very messy, (b) it was filled with scientific equipment, and (c) 
he could see Levi bending over a console.

	"Levi," said Croft, giving a warm and false smile.

	Levi looked over at Croft, but continued to turn a dial. "Eh," he 
said, not looking very friendly.

	"Levi, old buddy, old friend, how are you?" Croft asked.

	"Fine," said Levi.

	"How is Mindy?" Croft asked.

	"Fine," said Levi again.

	"And the dog, well, I can see for myself! A professor! You must 
be very proud."

	"Yeah," said Levi distantly.

	"Is something wrong, Levi?" said Croft.

	"No," said Levi, continuing to turn the knob.

	"I need your help, Levi," said Croft.

	"I no longer with Column," said Levi.

	"Actually, it's been called Imperial Intelligence for some 
decades now," said Croft. "And my request isn't related to them."

	"No?" Levi didn't look very believing at the moment.

	"Well, maybe it is, just a little bit," said Croft. "I'm not 
asking you to produce any weapons or devices for me. I just need a 
little information."

	"About what?" said Levi.

	"Senator Phil Beagan. Do you know where I can find him?" Croft 
asked.

	"Why would I know that?" said Levi. "I not know politicians."

	"Levi, I know you are a big supporter of human rights-"

	"I am loyal to Imperium," said Levi quickly. "Do not to try to 
implicate me."

	Croft held up his hands. "I wasn't trying to do anything. I know 
you're loyal. But I know you know a lot of people, and I'm simply 
looking for the Senator."

	"What for?"

	"I just want to talk with him, Levi. He may know something about 
a group called the Freedom League," said Croft.

	"Freedom League?"

	"Some sort of resistance group," said Croft. 

	"I know nothing about this. Nothing!" said Levi, still turning 
the knob.

	"I wasn't asking if you knew about the Freedom League," said 
Croft. "I'm just looking for the Senator."

	"Sorry, can't help," said Levi. Suddenly, a green light appeared 
on his console. He relaxed, stopped adjusting the knob, and smiled.

	"What was that about?" Croft asked.

	"Located broadcast frequency. Now jammed, at least for several 
minutes."

	"What jamming frequency?" Croft asked.

	"For listening devices in my apartment," said Levi.

	"You're being monitored?" Croft said.

	Levi gave Croft a cynical look.

	"By whom?"

	Levi pointed at Croft.

	"By me? I'm not spying on you, Levi," said Croft.

	"By Imperial Intelligence. Preventive Security. Maybe other 
agencies. All same thing," said Levi.

	"Why?" Croft asked.

	"I build things. Maybe they think I am potential threat."

	"Or maybe they think you have ties to the Freedom League."

	"I don't know anything about that," said Levi.

	"Yes, that's what you said when the others were listening," Croft 
noted. "You're a great scientist, Levi, but a lousy liar." 

	"Why should I tell you anything?" said Levi. "Would be same as 
telling Emperor Karn."

	Croft took a deep breath. "I've lately been coming to the 
conclusion that things aren't going well in the Imperium."

	"How so?'

	Croft told Levi about what he had discovered about Department 19. 
Levi glared at him. "Only now have you discovered this? For some time 
this has been going on."
	"You knew?" said Croft. "How? And why didn't you tell me?"

	"Thought it obvious you would know. You work for Imperial 
Security."

	"I've been working on busting arms smugglers and drug dealers for 
the past twenty years. I've been in a totally different division," said 
Croft.

	"Totally unaware of the repression, were you?"
	"I was aware of the censorship, of course," said Croft. "And I 
knew that Karn runs things with a far tighter grip than the War Admiral 
did. But simply killing people for disagreeing with the government? I 
wouldn't have worked for such a government for 20 years."

	"Like to believe you I would," said Levi. "And yet, your 
testimony helped put Karn in power."

	"My testimony?" said Croft, confused. "You mean, the plot I 
uncovered to assassinate the War Admiral? Yes, I discovered it, but I 
didn't advocate putting Karn in charge. He took power when the War 
Admiral was shot."

	"And yet I am told you were working for Karn during this time."
	"I was on assignment, yes," said Croft. "What are you getting 
at?"
	"It seems clear to everyone that you are loyal to him," said 
Levi.

	"I'm loyal to people, as long as they are loyal to ideals. I 
never thought Karn was the greatest guy, but I'm just starting to find 
out how really bad he is," said Croft.

	"So you say."

	Croft took a deep breath. He would have to reveal a secret which 
could get him in big trouble if Levi were caught and interrogated. But 
he had to earn Levi's trust, so he told him how he had saved Dalbo's 
life and helped him escape.

	Levi looked surprised. "That was you? We had heard that he had 
escaped, but did not know how."

	"We," Croft repeated triumphantly. "I want to meet them."

	Levi looked at Quick. "What think you?"
	Quick looked at Croft and twisted his head quizzically. 

	"Hold out hand," said Levi.

	Croft, looking puzzled, did so.

	Quick came over, and, standing on hind legs, tentatively sniffed 
and then licked Croft's hands. Then he took a few steps away and stuck 
out his tongue and smiled.

	"The taste test," said Croft. How insane could this be? "You're 
getting character advice from your dog?"
	"Quick has good instincts," said Levi.

	"Uh huh," said Croft. How could a man so smart in some ways be so 
naive in others?

	"I will guide you on next step," said Levi.

	"Thanks," said Croft.

	"But your path will get more dangerous the longer you play double 
game," said Levi. "If Imperium suspects you, you too will be sent to 
department 19."
	"It sounds dangerous," said Croft. "Too scary for me. I think 
you're better off giving this information to a professional, an 
infiltrator. Wait a minute! I'm an infiltrator! I do this for a living. 
What a relief!"

	"Is good to know that your sarcasm has not changed; if poor humor 
unchanged, probably Croft is unchanged as well."

	"Thanks for the vote of confidence," said Croft.

	Suddenly the light on Levi's console turned yellow. 

	"Nothing I can tell you," said Levi, typing rapidly on a datapad, 
and then handing it to Croft. "Go away now."

	"All right, Levi," said Croft, reading the datapad, before 
handing it back.



	The next day Agent Banks showed up at his desk. "What did you 
learn?"

	Croft shook his head. "Levi doesn't know anything about the 
Freedom League."

	"Then why did he want to meet with you privately?"

	"He's a recluse, he doesn't like meeting new people," said Croft, 
lying fluently.

	Banks stared at Croft. "Really?"

	"Double really," said Croft, typing rapidly at his terminal. 
"There, does that reassure you?"
	"What are you typing?" said Banks, changing the subject.

	"I did a little more searching on Senator Beagan. There's an 
office registered under his family's name that wasn't included in the 
information we received."	

	"Really? How did we miss that?"

	"I don't know," said Croft, who did know, since he entered the 
information in the database only the night before from an isolated 
terminal. "But let's go and check it out."

	When they got to the address, they found themselves in a fairly 
empty section of the warehouse district.

	"This doesn't look like an area with offices," said Banks.

	"I know," said Croft. "But this warehouse is the address. Let's 
check inside and see if we can't find out more."

	When they entered the warehouse they were immediately ambushed by 
men on either side of the door with blasters aimed at them. "Hold it!" 
they said.

	Croft and Banks froze. Two more men came forward and disarmed 
them. Blasters were pushed into their faces.

	"If this isn't a good time, we can come back later," said Croft.

	Blindfolds were put over their eyes and their hands were tied. 
They were taken to what seemed to be an aircar, and driven around for a 
while. Then they were led somewhere else on foot. Finally, after a long 
time, the blindfold was remove. Croft, blinking, found himself in a 
small, windowless room facing former Senator Phil Beagan.

	"If this is how you treat all your constituents, it's a small 
wonder you're not in office anymore," said Croft, indicating his bound 
hands.

	Beagan smiled. "Elected offices have been outlawed under the 
Imperium. All positions are filled by the ranks of the NGB now."

	"There is no NGB," said Croft. "That went out with the Slurian 
Union."

	"But we're ruled by the same people. The form of government that 
we currently enjoy is almost identical. Only the names are different," 
said Beagan.

	"We haven't talked in a while," said Croft, trying to change the 
subject. "How have you been, Senator?"
	"Fine, despite the Imperium's best attempts," said Beagan.

	"Best attempts to do what?"

	"Don't tell me you didn't know they've been trying to kill me for 
two years."
	"I didn't know they've been trying to kill you for two years," 
Croft blinked. "Sorry, you told me not to tell you that. But I really 
didn't know."

	"The increase in repression started gradually, but has really 
been picking up the pace over the past few years," said Beagan. "Is it 
really possible that you're not in on it?"

	Croft looked thoughtful, and nodded affirmatively.

	"I'd like to believe that, and yet you were an instrumental part 
of the fraud which put Karn into power."

	"Fraud?" said Croft.

	"Don't tell me you really believe that Roger Dulin, the War 
Admiral's most trusted aide and heir apparent, plotted to assassinate 
the war Admiral," said Beagan.

	"I did have my doubts," said Croft. "At least, until I was held 
in the office of his top aide, Colonel Miller, and Admiral Dulin 
himself admitted his role in a holoconversation I had with him."

	"Identities, as well as personalities, can be faked," said 
Beagan. "You of all people should know that."

	"I know they can be faked," said Croft. "But I didn't exactly 
have time to conduct a thorough investigation. Admiral Dulin was killed 
before I could do any fact checking."

	"So you're saying you were just reporting what happened," said 
Beagan. "That you, the great Clifford Croft, was simply used by Emperor 
Karn."

	"Well, yes, I am great," said Croft. "But I object to the term 
used."

	"The alternative is that you were in on it with Karn from the 
beginning."
	"Yes, I was used by Karn, that was it," said Croft. He grimaced. 
"Look, it occurred to me early and often that Karn might have set up 
the situation to get Admiral Dulin out of the way and stage a coup. But 
I saw what I saw with my own eyes. Admiral Dulin admitted his guilt. 
Without concrete proof that what I saw was really, I don't know who to 
believe was the culprit."

	Beagan looked at Croft, as if he were trying to fathom his 
innocence or guilt. "It is well established in the record that you 
spoke to Admiral Dulin at," and he named a date and time, "by 
holotransmission, correct?"
	Croft nodded.

	"And yet during that time Admiral Dulin was in a meeting with 
civil administrators. He couldn't possibly have been speaking to you 
privately."
	"Can you verify this?" Croft asked.

	"I have spoken to several of Admiral Dulin's administrators who 
were in the meeting with him. Their schedules all indicate they were 
there."

	"So if Admiral Dulin was in a meeting when I spoke to him..."

	"Then you spoke to an imposter," said Beagan.

	"Which makes it likely that this was all engineered by Karn," 
said Croft.

	"Merely likely?" said Beagan.

	"After what I've seen, after how I was apparently fooled, I need 
concrete evidence before I come to conclusions again," said Croft 
defiantly. "But either way, that's not relevant."

	"How so?"

	"Whether Karn had the War Admiral shot is a matter of merely 
personal interest right now. Karn has to go for independent reasons. 
He's having large number of people killed simply for thinking disloyal 
thoughts."
	"Yes, I heard how you apparently rescued the telepath," said 
Beagan.

	"It was quite an apparent rescue. I guess news travels quickly," 
said Croft.

	"But how do I know that the incident wasn't staged? Perhaps your 
entire purpose was to locate me," said Beagan.

	"At some point you have to decide who to trust," said Croft, 
staring defiantly at him.

	"Indeed," said Senator Beagan. "If you were to turn the telepath 
over to us, that would be a gesture of good faith. He could tell us 
about your thoughts, and whether you are genuine in what you say."
	"Well, you see, I've got a problem of my own there," said Croft. 
"I've been told that you're secretly working for the Terrible Thinker. 
I don't think I want to turn Dalbo over to him."

	"The Terrible Thinker?" said Beagan. "What gives you the 
impression that he's even alive?"

	"His kind don't die very easily," said Croft. "And no body was 
even found."
	"So that's how they've turned you against us."

	"Hm?"
	"If you thought we were a genuine democracy movement, you might 
have qualms about hunting us down. But if you were told we were tools 
of the Terrible Thinker, then, well, you would be properly motivated."

	"A great theory," said Croft. "The problem is, I don't know if 
it's correct. You probably have never even met the guy you're working 
for."

	"That would be incorrect," said Beagan. "I have met him, and I 
can tell you for a fact, he isn't the Terrible Thinker."

	"You've met him?" said Croft. This was unexpected. "How do you 
know that whoever you think you've met is really the leader behind this 
whole movement? He could be a figurehead for the Terrible Thinker."
	"Croft, I was a politician for several hundred years. I can spot 
a leader. Besides, I know." He seemed certain.

	Croft looked at him oddly. Beagan obviously knew more than he was 
telling. But he seemed certain.

	So at this point, did Croft trust Beagan? How else would Croft 
get Beagan to trust him? The trust had to begin somewhere.

	"All right," said Croft. "We have to move Dalbo somewhere, he's 
bound to be discovered soon. Give me a location and I'll have him 
delivered to you."

	"Give us his location and we'll pick him up," said Beagan.

	Croft thought again, and nodded. "I'll relay a message to you 
after I'm safely out of here."

	"A reasonable precaution," said Beagan. "I'll provide you with 
data coordinates." He changed the subject. "What about your partner? 
Can he be trusted as well?"
	"Only to report my every move to my bosses."

	"That's what we thought," said Beagan approvingly. "Your stock is 
rising, Croft. If you're curious, he's been interrogated in another 
room. Not very roughly. You'll be put in the same room with him, and 
means will be provided for you to escape. You might report a similar 
story to his--questions about who you are, why you're pursuing me, and 
so forth."

	"Well thought out," said Croft.

	"So, what will you do next?"

	"My mission is to ferret out the Freedom League," said Croft. 
"But I thought, while I was ineffectually doing that, I might help 
cause a little trouble for the Imperium."

	"I have some ideas on that subject, if you'd like to hear them."
	"I would," said Croft.

	They spoke for several more minutes. Finally, when they were 
done, Beagan called his men in and they prepared to blindfold him 
again.

	"Senator, one more thing," said Croft, before the blindfold came 
down on his eyes.

	"Yes?" said Beagan

	"If you're lying, and anything happens to Dalbo, you know I'm 
going to have to find you and kill you."

	Beagan smiled appreciatively, and gestured for the blindfold to 
be lowered. "I don't think we were wrong about you, Croft."

	Croft, wondering exactly who the "we" were, was blindfolded and 
taken to another room. He was sat down in a chair, his bonds were 
released, and then the men left.

	"Who, who's there?" Croft heard Banks say.

	Croft casually took off his blindfold. He saw Banks, blindfolded, 
sitting besides him. 

	"It's Croft," said Croft.

	"Croft! Did they torture you too?" said Banks.
	"No, just an interrogation," said Croft. "How did they torture 
you?"

	"They yelled questions at me!"

	"That sounds really rough," said Croft. "We'll have to have a 
medical team look you over when we get out of this."

	"Croft, this isn't a time for humor," said Banks. "How are we 
going to escape? These ropes are primitive but they are tight!"

	"I'm working on it," said Croft, picking up a sharp piece of 
plastic off the floor. He held one of the ropes that had formerly tied 
his hands taut, and started to saw through it.

	"How?"

	"I managed to grab something sharp. I'm cutting through my 
bonds."

	"Hurry!" said Banks.

	"Yes, we have to get you out of here before you bleed to death 
from your wounds," said Croft.

	"I'm bleeding?" said Banks, sounding anxious.

	Croft sighed, and continued cutting with the plastic's sharp 
edge. The rope was giving away too quickly. Croft stopped cutting. He 
needed to give Beagan's men enough time to leave.

	"Croft?"
	"I'm working as fast as I can," said Croft, staring at the 
ceiling tiles. Exactly what did Dalbo see in those? A few minutes 
later, he started cutting again.

	Finally, when he figured enough time had elapsed, he freed Banks.

	Banks looked around. "Great! But we're unarmed, how are we going 
to get out of here?"

	"We're trained infiltrators," Croft reminded him. "Well, at least 
one of us is."

	"This is no time for snideness," said Banks.

	"You just have to make the time," Croft corrected him. He peered 
out of the door, then he opened it wide.

	"Croft!" Banks hissed.

	"They're gone," said Croft.

	They left what turned out to be another abandoned warehouse, and 
casually made their way to the street. 



	General Magnuson was disturbed to learn they had been taken 
captive, however briefly. "Was Beagan behind it?" he asked.

	Croft shrugged. "Our interrogators never identified themselves."
	"Still, this is very serious. It sounds like a setup," said 
Magnuson. "I think it's possible you might be under surveillance by the 
enemy."

	"That's exactly my thought, sir," said Croft, giving Banks a 
knowing look.

	"Keep investigating," said Magnuson. "I want these subversives 
found!"

	"Yes sir," said Croft.

	That evening Croft eluded two agents following him. Evidently 
Banks was not sufficient; either Imperial Intelligence or Preventive 
Security were having him followed, full time. But Croft only thought he 
had eluded all of his pursuers. In reality Special Agent Juliet Branch 
of the Preventive Security Service was still following. 

	Croft went to a public data terminal after disabling the security 
surveillance around it. He typed in a series of codes, transmitting a 
certain amount of data, then he waited. A moment later, a flood of data 
returned. Croft, surprised, downloaded it to his datapad. He would look 
at it later. He erased the information from the terminal and then 
headed off.

	Croft looked around, to make sure he still wasn't being followed. 
He saw no one. He started off towards Dalbo's hiding place.

	Special Agent Juliet Branch stepped out of the shadows, and 
followed him.

	When Croft arrived in Dalbo's apartment Dalbo didn't even look 
up. Dalbo was counting a series of multicolored marbles.

	"I see Preston has been by," said Croft.

	"Yes," said Dalbo, busy with the counting.

	"I have some news for you," said Croft. "We need to move you to a 
safer location."

	"But I just moved here," said Dalbo.

	"I'm sorry, but I can't keep you resupplied on a regular basis," 
said Croft. "They're watching me too closely."
	"Watching you? Why?" Dalbo asked, not really interested.

	"I don't know, it might have something to do with your 
disappearance," said Croft.

	"So you are handing me over to Senator Beagan," said Dalbo.

	"Has anyone told you that it's not polite to read someone's mind 
without permission?" Croft asked.

	"You had me do it all the time," Dalbo sniffed.

	Croft refused to have himself drawn into a discussions of the 
subtleties of that argument. "Strangers will be coming in a few hours, 
so be ready; pack up your toothpicks, and don't lose your marbles."

	Dalbo nodded. 

	Croft turned to go.

	"Croft?"

	"Yes?" Was Dalbo going to thank him? That would be very 
uncharacteristic; but then, these were trying times.

	"Next time, can you get me real wooden toothpicks? I don't like 
the plastic ones."

	Croft rolled his eyes and left. He wondered if Senator Beagan's 
people would be driven crazy by Dalbo's insane demands.

	As Croft entered the corridor, he thought he saw a shape moving 
down the dark hallway. He stared for a moment, but saw nothing else. He 
moved in that direction; when he got there, he saw nothing.

	Preventive Security Special Agent Juliet Branch stepped out of a 
side corridor and stared after him. She had some important thinking to 
do....





Chapter 4: Union Support



	"What are we doing on Pacifica?" Banks asked.

	They had taken a commercial flight to the planet Pacifica, one of 
the more industrialized planets in the Imperium. 

	"We're investigating some of the labor unions," said Croft 
crisply. "I've done some digging. There have been a series of wildcat 
strikes in the past few months, often in key industries. I'm guessing 
that they may have been sponsored by the Freedom League."

	"Really?" Banks asked.

	"Maybe," said Croft. "We'll investigate and see."

	When their flight landed, they breezed through customs--as 
agents, they didn't have their luggage searched, which was a good thing 
for Croft. They exited the main building and hailed an aircab. As they 
entered, Croft told the driver he wanted to go to the city center.

	The driver didn't move. "Are you waiting for something?" Croft 
asked.

	Suddenly the door on the other side of the cab opened and a man 
entered the cab, sitting down in the back next to Croft and Banks.

	"I'm sorry, but I don't think they accept shared rides," Croft 
told the stranger.

	Colonel T'Kaya Latr of the Preventive Security Service grinned. 
Of course, Croft had immediately recognized him. "So good to see you 
again, Agent Croft."

	"Should we really be so forward with the A word in front of..." 
Croft indicated the driver with his eyes.

	"Relax," said Latr, readjusting his eyepatch slightly. "He is one 
of us."

	"Really?" said Croft. "But who exactly are we?"

	"It is odd, being on the same side, after all this time, isn't 
it?" said Latr. "Old habits and thought patterns die hard, don't they?"

	"You're with Preventive Security," said Croft.

	"Try not to act surprised," said Latr. 

	"What are you doing here?" Croft asked.

	"We're here to provide assistance," said the Colonel.
	"By all means," said Croft. "First, our hotel. Then I'd like an 
elaborate five course dinner. If one of your operatives is preparing 
it, we'll also need a food taster."

	Latr laughed. "You haven't lost that keen wit of yours, I see."
	"What do you want, Latr?" said Croft, getting tired of this game.

	"Just to assist," said Latr. "We are every bit as intent on 
finding those Freedom League scum as you are." He stared at Croft. "And 
all their sympathizers as well."

	"Good luck," said Croft. He gestured for Banks to get out of the 
aircar.

	"Where are you going?" said Latr.

	"We're looking for another ride where there's a little less 
inflight entertainment and a little more horizontal movement," said 
Croft. 

	Latr gestured to the driver and the cab left.

	"We should work with him," said Banks.

	"I think some of us already are," said Croft.

	"You keep acting like I'm the enemy, but I think when push comes 
to shove, you're going to be surprised," said Banks.

	"Very surprised," said Croft, getting into another aircar.



	They had arrived in the late afternoon. They discussed their 
plans over dinner. "Tomorrow we meet with the head of the Service 
Laboror's Union," said Croft.

	"What is that?" Banks asked.

	"A union that's had more than its fair share of strikes lately," 
said Croft. 

	"How did you get an appointment to see him?" Banks wanted to 
know.
	"I didn't," said Croft. "I prefer surprising him."

	"You're going to break in?"
	"I prefer to say that I will make a creative entrance," said 
Croft.

	"I hope you know what you're doing," said Banks.

	"At least I know what you're doing," said Croft.

	"How many different ways can you find to say that I'm spying on 
you?"

	"So far? About... 40 to 50," said Croft. "But give me time, I'm 
only just begun."



	The next morning Croft got up extra early to make some 
preparations. He went through their luggage and took out a round 
object. Croft then opened his door and walked three steps to Bank's 
door. He picked the amateur lock silently and efficiently in under five 
seconds. Then he opened a door. Gently, so not to wake Banks up, he 
rolled a grenade in the room. He closed the door. There was no sound of 
explosion.

	Croft counted to ten and then opened the door again. It was a gas 
grenade so naturally there was no explosion. The room was filled with 
thinning gas but Croft was prepared, of course, wearing nose filters. 
Croft retrieved the grenade and left the way he came; for good measure 
he relocked the door, from the outside.

	Croft went back to his room and got some items he would need, 
including a holomask. He had brought it with him from August but had 
made some special modifications last night. When he put it on he looked 
like someone else. Someone Croft knew. Croft couldn't resist smiling. 
The holomask, with its proper programming, showed a smile as well.

	Across the street from the hotel, Special Agent Juliet Branch 
watched the turn of events with a sniperscope, and with very raised 
eyebrows.

	Once he was ready, Croft went to the offices of the Galactic 
Union of Concerned Workers. That's right. Not the Service Laborer's 
Union, as he had told Banks. The GUCW was the umbrella organization for 
nearly all unions in the galaxy, thousands of them--in short, the GUCW 
was the largest union organization in the galaxy.. That was the real 
reason he had come to Pacifica. The Service Laborer's Union 
investigation was just a cover story.

	The GUCW was housed in the largest building on Pacifica, 
naturally. The Union was very powerful, funded by billions of dues 
paying members, and millions of corporations who also made payments of 
various kinds. The GUCW did very well for itself. So did the current 
president, Engels Marks. He was a very stern man who others made sure 
not to anger. So the last thing he expected when he went into his 
palatial office that morning was to see another man sitting behind his 
desk.

	"Get out from there! I'm going to call security!" Marks roared. 
He headed to a comm panel on the wall.

	"Wouldn't do that," said Croft, reclining in Marks' chair with 
his feet on his grand desk.

	"Why not," said Marks, his fingers inches from the panic button.

	"Because I'd shoot you," said Croft, pointing a blaster at him. 
"There are other reasons, but that will do for starters."

	"Who are you?" said Marks, looking at Croft.

	"You can call me Colonel," said Croft. "My name is Colonel T'Kaya 
Latr. Preventive Security Service."

	Croft even had the voice down. He had a special voice 
synthesizer, and had dug up a sample of Latr's voice for the occasion, 
just in case Marks office was wired for sound and video.

	"Preventive Security," said Marks, suddenly looking pale.  
Suddenly his tone became more conciliatory. "We've always had a good 
relationship with the security services. If there's some problem I'm 
not aware of-"

	"There is," said Croft. "There have been a number of strikes by 
unions under your umbrella. There has been some concern as to whether 
these have been attempts at economic sabotage."

	"Economic sabotage? Never!" said Marks. "I admit there have been 
a few isolated strikes, but nothing like you say...."

	"Well, what's important is what the Imperium thinks," said Croft. 
"And they're seriously considering outlawing the union."

	"Which union?"

	Croft leaned forward. "All unions."
	"That... there would be anarchy! Civil unrest! Chaos!" said 
Marks.
	"After the first few rounds of executions we think the unrest 
would die down," said Croft.

	"Ex... executions?"

	"Of senior union leaders." Croft waggled his eyebrows. "You can 
guess who would be first."

	"But... but... I am loyal to the Imperium!"

	"They don't care," said Croft. He projected a holographic image 
of a memo. "Look at this one. And this one, and this one," he said, 
flipping through several of them. "You can take your time and read them 
later, I've downloaded them into your computer."
	"What are they?"
	"Step by step plans to outlaw all unions in the next two years. 
The Imperium has planted provocateurs in your organization who will 
start strikes and give them a pretext to move against you."

	"So this isn't about loyalty?"

	Croft nodded. "It's about control. Regardless of what you do or 
don't do, you're going to get hammered."
	"Why are you telling me this?" Marks asked.

	"There are some of us who don't like this trend," said Croft. 

	"Really?"

	"But we're not in a position to change policy at the moment," 
said Croft.

	"What turn of events would put you in that position?" Marks 
asked.

	"External pressure," said Croft. "Strikes, civil disobedience, 
corporate disloyalty, that sort of thing. You'll be seeing a lot more 
of that over the next few months."

	"You're going to be making your own move against the Imperium."
	"I never said that," said Croft. "And I have a jammer in place, 
don't even think of trying to record this and blackmail me."

	"So you want me to help you in your bid to overthrow the 
Emperor."
	"No," said Croft. "Feel free to sit on the sidelines and do 
nothing. But check these memos I'm leaving you--they detail very 
clearly what's going to happen to you in the next two years. You can 
personally probably survive another six months by keeping your head 
down."

	"But if I foment strikes I won't last six days," said Marks.

	"Do it smart," said Croft. "Have others outside of your control 
foment the strikes. Eventually the Imperium may catch on, but not 
immediately. When that happens, you take your organization underground. 
Keep the pressure up with strikes, and, in combination with some other 
things we're planning, there will be a new change of management within 
a year."

	"It sound dangerous," said Marks.

	"Then do nothing," said Croft, shrugging as he got up and head to 
the door. "But don't say I didn't warn you." Croft suddenly thought 
about what he was saying.  "Actually, on second thought, I prefer if 
you didn't tell your interrogators that I warned you at all."

	He walked out the door, leaving a speechless union leader behind 
him.

	Croft felt reasonably confident that Marks would take action. The 
internal memos he had provided Marks with were forged, of course, but 
each had a ring of truth to them. Each memo described repressive 
techniques the Imperium had already put into place to limit the rights 
of unions to organize and protest. Croft wrote up those procedures and 
then added the bit about liquidating the union leadership as if it were 
one continuous policy that was slowly being carried out over time.

	Actually, though, Croft's fraudulent documents might not be far 
from the truth--the Imperium had been tightening the noose on the 
unions during the past few years. For all he knew his little creative 
writing exercise might be closer to the truth than he thought.

	The important thing is that when individual member unions of the 
GUCW started to strike, their actions wouldn't be connected to him. 
After all, Croft hadn't come here to meet with the GUCW; he had come to 
speak to a smaller, individual union, the Service Workers Union, and 
according to the reports undoubtedly provided by Banks, he would have 
had no contact with the GUCW.

	Speaking of Banks... Croft returned to the hotel. He knocked on 
Banks' door once. Then again, louder. Banks, looking sleepy, came to 
the door. "What is it?"

	"Are you finally awake?"
	"What time is it?" Banks checked his chrono to answer his own 
question. "It's the mid-afternoon? What happened?"

	"I tried to wake you this morning but you weren't answering. I 
figured I would let you sleep late."

	"What?" said Banks. "There's no way I could have slept this 
long."

	"It is the mid-afternoon," said Croft. "I had to get some work 
done."

	"The Chief is going to kill me. He insisted I travel with you 
everywhere."

	"Well, the Chief doesn't have to know about this, unless you tell 
him," said Croft.

	"I suppose," said Banks. "What happened?"

	"I intimidated the head of the Service Worker's Union. After a 
few idle threats, he coughed up the names of a few troublemakers."

	"Really? We'll have them brought in for interrogation!"
	"That's just what I was thinking," said Croft, giving a small 
smile.

	By the time they returned to August, the people Croft had named 
had been arrested. But there was a problem with their interrogation.

	"Every one of these names you provided are Preventive Security 
agents!" thundered General Magnuson.

	"Really?" said Croft innocently. "I had no idea that PSS had 
infiltrated the unions."

	"They have," said Magnuson. "Though how the union boss you 
interviewed knew exactly who our PSS agents were has me concerned."
	"I'm sorry," said Croft. "I thought I had him thoroughly 
intimidated. If I had known there were Preventive Security agents in 
the Services Union, if I had known who they were, I wouldn't have 
fallen for this deception."

	"There was no way you could have known," said Magnuson. "Your 
instincts were right, however, that the unions need to have a closer 
eye kept on them. Since you returned from Pacifica, four large unions 
have gone out on strike in the key industries of manufacturing and 
spaceport maintenance."

	"Really?" said Croft.

	"Yes," said Magnuson. "It's unclear if they have any Freedom 
League connection or not, but if they do we'll get to the bottom of 
it."

	"I think there may be," said Croft. "And it may not be limited to 
unions."

	"What do you mean?" Magnuson asked.

	"I wonder if some corporations aren't in bed with the Freedom 
League. They must be getting their funding from somewhere."

	"That's true," said Magnuson.

	"Let me look into it," said Croft.

	"A good idea," said Magnuson. He nodded, dismissing them.

	When Croft returned to his apartment that night, he entered and 
turned on a light. He saw a woman sitting in one of his chairs. She had 
a blaster aimed at him.

	"Pardon me," said Croft. "Am I in the wrong apartment?"

	"Lose the blaster and sit down, very slowly, Croft," she said.

	Croft frowned. Not at the request, but the person. She looked 
familiar, somehow.

	He carefully took out his blaster and lowered it to the ground.

	"Have a seat," She said. "We can talk in private; I've disabled 
the listening devices in your apartment."

	That was an encouraging sign. She wanted to talk. Croft sat down, 
peering at her.

	"I'm hurt," she said. "You don't remember me, do you?"

	Suddenly, Croft knew where he had seen her before. "Julie Tree," 
he said, snapping his fingers.

	"Branch, actually," said Juliet Branch.

	"Julie Branch," said Croft. "It's been a long time."

	"Actually, it's Juliet now," said Branch.

	"That's not the only thing that's changed, apparently," said 
Croft. "The last time I saw you, you were a crewmember on a merchant 
ship. And now you're...." he hoped she would finish the sentence.

	"Captain. Preventive Security Service," she smiled.

	"That's a rather sharp change in profession," said Croft. "I'm 
curious how it came about."
	"I can't imagine you're stalling for time," said Branch. "As you 
know your friend Preston is on Karis and can't help you. Since we have 
the time, I will satisfy your curiosity."

	Many years earlier, Croft, Branch, and an entire crew of a 
merchant vessel had been stranded on an abandoned Monumental ship for 
several days. 	Their own ship had been damaged in battle and their 
ship, a merchant vessel carrying important military technology for use 
in the Second Slurian War, had docked with the Monumental ship, looking 
for spare parts to fix their ship. The Monumental ship was filled with 
tremendous technology beyond their understanding--and a hideous monster 
of shadow and gas beyond their ability to kill. One by one the creature 
had killed their crew, until only Croft and Branch were left. They had 
barely escaped with their lives.

	Branch said, "After our... encounter, I spent a not 
inconsiderable time recovering. When I did, I enrolled in the 
governmental investigative service on New Finland.  Mostly I was 
investigating waste and fraud."

	"That's still quite a jump from Preventive Security. When did you 
start working for the Slurians?" Croft casually asked.
	"After Emperor Karn took over, a number of us were shifted over 
to Preventive Security," said Branch.

	"Shifted over?"
	"We weren't exactly given much choice," said Branch.
	"Why would people be forced to join Preventive Security?" Croft 
asked.

	"Preventive Security was top-heavy with Slurians. They wanted 
non-Slurian operatives who could blend in more easily on former League 
planets," said Branch. "Though I hadn't exactly been a spy before, they 
found my experience compatible."

	"I see," said Croft. "So would you characterize it as a good 
career move?"

	"Is that what you really want to talk about?" said Branch.

	"Well, I'm also curious to know what you're doing in my apartment 
with a blaster pointed at me," said Croft. "But if you're in no hurry 
to shoot me, I figured there was no need to rush the point."

	"Oh, Croft, you haven't changed," she grinned. "Except that 
you've been getting sloppy."
	"Sloppy?" Croft said.

	"I saw you visit your friend Dalbo after you stole him away from 
the other Specials," said Branch.

	"You saw me?" said Croft. "If you did, then why-"

	"Didn't I turn the both of you in? I wanted to gather more 
information, to see who else you were involved with," said Branch. "And 
it's been worth it. You've been dressing up as Colonel Latr and making 
some very secret visits to the Galactic Union of Concerned Workers."

	"Oh, you saw that too?" said Croft.

	"I thought you're a master spy. How did you let yourself be 
tailed so easily?"

	"You have to understand I probably have a lot of agents following 
me," said Croft.

	"That you do, at least three different contingents from 
Preventive Security that I've observed," said Branch. "So far they 
haven't caught on, but it's just a matter of time."

	"So you're here to warn me, not to turn me in," said Croft 
brightly.

	"Not quite," said Branch. "I hadn't exactly decided what to do 
with you. You see, when they assigned me to you, they must have known 
that we knew each other. If so, they are watching and testing my 
loyalty. If I don't turn you in now, I'll probably be liquidated."

	"Ah. I think I spot a flaw in your logic," said Croft. "You think 
this is a loyalty test for you because you think they already know of 
our past history."

	"Yes," said Branch.

	"But how would they know of our past history?" Croft said. "Did 
you file a report on what happened?"

	"No," said Branch. "It was too traumatic."

	"I never filed one either," said Croft.

	"You never did?" said Branch. 

	"No," said Croft. "Too traumatic."

	"But you were an operative. You had to make a report," said 
Branch.

	"I reported that the advanced cargo was lost as was the crew of 
the merchant ship," said Croft. "I didn't see the need to get into 
details. I had more than my share of nightmares for some time to come."

	"So... they don't know," said Branch.

	Croft thought rapidly. The only ones who knew what had happened 
on the Monumental ship were the Meddler Capybara, now dead, and James 
Starr, the noted explorer. And James was very unlikely to be working 
with the Imperium.

	Croft shook his head.

	Branch visibly relaxed. "So it's not a loyalty test."

	"No, it's just random chance you were assigned to me," said 
Croft. "Random chance does happen, from time to time."
	Branch's features hardened again. "But sooner or later you're 
going to be caught, and when you are, they're going to wonder why I 
didn't catch you."
	"Nonsense!" said Croft. "First of all, how often have I been 
caught?"

	"According to your record, from time to time."
	"But I always escape."

	"That won't help me."

	"If they blame you, won't they also have to blame all the other 
teams following me? Do you think they will accuse all the other teams 
of being disloyal as well?"

	"You don't know Preventive Security," said Branch, with a 
shudder.

	"I know Colonel Latr," said Croft.

	"Why were you impersonating him?" said Branch curiously.

	"An insurance policy," said Croft. "I think the Imperium is going 
to have a lot more to worry about than you in a few weeks. I wouldn't 
worry about it."

	"I don't know...."
	"Then there's the small matter of my having saved your life," 
said Croft.

	"That was more than a century ago. What have you done for me 
lately?" Branch asked.

	"It would have been a particularly nasty, gruesome death, if you 
remember what happened to your shipmates," said Croft.

	Branch visibly shuddered.

	"As to what I've done for you otherwise, I've helped bring about 
the downfall of the Slurian Union, I've repelled an Insect invasion, 
and now I'm working to get rid of those Preventive Security types, 
permanently."

	Croft could almost see the wheels turning in Branch's head. Then 
something clicked and she lowered her weapon. 

	"A good decision," said Croft.

	Branch got up and headed for the door. "Be careful, Croft. You're 
being watched very closely. They don't trust you."

	"I know," said Croft. "I find that personally hurtful, but I'm 
learning to cope."




Chapter 5: A Corporate Resolution



	A few weeks later, Agents Croft and Banks were on their way to 
New Finland; not because it was the former home of Special Agent Banks, 
but because it was the galactic headquarters for the Claritan 
Corporation. 

	The Claritan Corporation was the largest multiplanetary 
corporation in the galaxy. It used its economic muscle to make sure it 
stayed that way--through much of the lifespan of the League, through 
the rebuilding after the Insect invasion, during the Standard Imperium, 
and now during Karn's Imperium. The Claritan Corporation did a little 
(or a lot) of nearly everything: manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, 
spaceship construction, transportation, robotics, management, banking, 
and more.

	The ostensible purpose of the trip was to spy on the Claritan 
Corporation; Croft's real purpose was to turn the Claritan Corporation 
against the Imperium, using similar methods he had used with the GUWC. 

	But before he had left August again he had a secret meeting with 
Senator Beagan. It was perhaps a measure of Beagan's growing trust in 
him that he allowed Croft to come to him without a blindfold.

	"We've spoken with Dalbo about you; he confirms you're on our 
side," said Beagan.

	"What a relief," said Croft. His expression hardened. "I'd like 
to speak with him, to confirm you're on mine."
	Beagan nodded. He pressed a button, and the holographic image of 
Dalbo appeared. Croft was careful to watch for any signs of deceptions; 
holographic broadcasts could be forged.

	Dalbo was distracted, looking at his hand.

	"Fascinating, isn't it?"

	"Yes," said Dalbo. He moved his fingers in different directions. 
"All the angles... so different, so very different."

	"How are they treating you, Dalbo?" Croft asked.
	"Oh, I don't know," said Dalbo.

	"Hardly a ringing endorsement."

	"They don't let me go outside much. I get very little reaction to 
external stimuli. Are you coming soon?"
	"Why?"

	"I could use some more marbles."

	He certainly could. Yes, this was the real Dalbo. Croft said, 
"I'm not sure when I'll be able to visit. But you be good and stay 
safe."

	Dalbo, studying his hand, didn't even bother to nod. The 
transmission ended.

	"I trust this means you won't have to carry out on your threat to 
kill me," said Beagan.

	"You speak in the language of politicians," said Croft. "I speak 
in the language of my profession."

	"I've seen operatives be more diplomatic," said Beagan.

	"And less successful," said Croft.

	"You have been somewhat successful," said Beagan. "I was 
impressed by how you handled your encounter with the Galactic Union of 
Concerned Workers."

	"I'm off to the Claritan Corporation next," said Croft. "In the 
meantime, why don't you make good use of Dalbo?"

	"How do you mean?"
	"The Imperium was using him to find disloyal officials. Why don't 
you do the same?" said Croft. 

	"Find out who's disloyal and get them to join the League?"

	"Exactly my thoughts," said Croft. "Focus on the military. That's 
likeliest to be most important, when we get to crunch time."

	"I agree," said Beagan. He passed over a box.

	"From Levi?" said Croft.

	"Just what you asked for."

	"Good," said Croft.

	"Good luck," said Beagan.

	"Good skill," Croft corrected him.



	When Banks and Croft arrived on New Finland they dropped their 
bags at a hotel and immediately went to work. As New Finland was the 
main headquarters for the Claritan Corporation, the company had a 
number of properties on the planet. But its largest was the Claritan 
building, 240 stories tall and half a block on each dimension. 

	The executive floor was floor number 200. Croft's plan was to bug 
the most important rooms in the building. But they wouldn't know which 
those were until they observed activity on the floor. So Croft 
suggested they watch from rooms in nearby buildings.

	"How do we get into rooms in other buildings?" Banks asked.

	"We're infiltrators, remember?" said Croft. "But if you're not up 
for it..."
	"I can do it," said Banks.

	"Good," said Croft. "Because each of us should be watching from 
different buildings."
	"Why?"

	"The Claritan building is big; there is no way the two of us can 
watch the entire building from one vantage point."

	"I'm supposed to stay with you," said Banks.

	"I didn't see you in my room when I woke up this morning," said 
Croft.

	"That's different," said Banks.

	"So your rules have some latitude, such as common sense, do 
they?" said Croft. "What do you think the Chief would say if I asked 
you to split up on this part of the assignment and you refused?" He let 
the question hang in the air.

	"All right," said Banks. "But we have to keep constant contact by 
comm."

	"Of course," said Croft, giving a small smile. He had been 
expecting Banks to try and keep tabs with him that way.

	He and Banks each infiltrated a room in nearby buildings. The 
buildings were occupied, of course, but Croft had no trouble breaking 
in and finding a room facing the Claritan building that was temporarily 
empty. The room even had a clear view of the 200th floor, not that it 
really mattered. Croft didn't plan to stay there very long.

	"Croft, are you there?" came Banks over his comm.

	Croft had to smile. Right on time. "I'm here."
	"I'm looking through the Claritan building with 
electrobinoculars. I think the busiest rooms are-"

	"Whoa, you've been there for 30 seconds and you can tell me which 
rooms are the busiest?" said Croft. "We have to give this at least two 
hours."
	"But-"
	"No buts," said Croft. He reached into his pocket and activated 
the device Levi gave him.

	"All right," said Banks, sounding dejected.

	"Don't complain," said the device, in a perfect replica of 
Croft's voice.

	Croft just stood there in the room for several minutes to be sure 
the device was working.

	"Croft, I see some people coming into the main conference room!" 
came Bank's voice.

	"Good for you," said the device, in Croft's voice.

	"Any progress on your end?"

	"What you'd imagine," said the device.

	"What would I imagine?"

	"Stop asking silly questions," said the device.

	Croft smiled. It really was a work of genius. The machine 
analyzed Bank's tone of voice and gave a response, in Croft's voice, 
that was vaguely appropriate. It had also been programmed to mimic 
Croft's personality.  The machine didn't understand what Banks was 
saying, only the tone. But it seemed to be working fine. If only the 
device could work with Banks full time.

	Croft put on his holomask, adjusted his voice translator, and 
immediately became Colonel Latr. He also turned his jacket inside out 
and it immediately became another style and fashion. He tapped his 
pants and they changed color as well.

	Croft existed the building, only too aware of the non-too-
inconspicuous Preventive Security agents who were hanging around the 
entrance. Waiting for him. They really were amateurs. All except 
Branch.

	If any of them recognized Colonel Latr or showed any surprise at 
seeing him there, they didn't show it. Let him be recognized! It would 
make for an even more interesting report on their part.

	Croft entered the Claritan building. Security was tight. He 
evaded it. All it required was a bit of misdirection here, shadowing a 
guard there--and then he was through the security cordon. With several 
hundred years of practice, it was all getting to be too easy.

	Croft made his way to the executive floor. He wondered if Banks 
would pick him up through his electrobinoculars. That would certainly 
make for interesting viewing!

	Croft made his way to the President's office. The current 
President of the Claritan Corporation was Carly Wentworth. In her outer 
office was a male receptionist, flanked by two beefy but well dressed 
guards. "May I help you?"

	"I'm here to see Ms. Wentworth," said Croft.

	"Do you have an appointment?" said the receptionist effeminately.

	"No," said Croft.

	"Then I'm afraid I can't let you in, Mr...."

	"T'kaya Latr. Colonel T'kaya Latr. Preventive Security Service."

	"I'm sorry, Mr. Latr. You'll have to-" the receptionist cut off 
in midsentence.

	"Can I have your name please?" Croft asked.

	"My what?"
	"Your name please," said Croft. "For my report."
	The receptionist took a deep breath. "Just a moment please." He 
activated the comm and spoke softly but urgently into it. After a 
moment he said, "President Wentworth will see you now."
	"Thank you," Croft smiled.

	Croft entered the office to see a striking blonde standing there 
in a formal five piece women's business suit complete with formal 
business skirt.

	"Preventive Security?" said President Wentworth. "Is there some 
problem?"
	"There is," said Croft, turning to make sure the door was closed 
behind her. Then he proceeded to tell her the story. How the Imperium 
planned to nationalize all major corporation