"All right," Walton said. "Keep on the hunt for Lamarre. At the moment I want you to give this building a thorough scouring. There's no telling how many spy pickups Sellors planted here. Top to bottom, and report back to me when the job is done." Next on Walton's schedule was a call from communications. He received it and a technician told him, "There's been a call from the Venus ship. Do you want it, sir?" "Of course!" "It says, 'Arrived Venus June fifteen late, no sign of Lang outfit yet. Well keep looking and will report daily.' It's signed, 'Spencer.'" "Okay," Walton said. "Thanks. And if any further word from them comes, let me have it right away." The fate of the Lang expedition, Walton reflected, was not of immediate importance. But he would like to know what had happened to the group. He hoped Spencer and his rescue mission had something more concrete to report tomorrow. The annunciator chimed. "Dr. Frederic Walton is on the line, sir. He says it's urgent." "Okay," Walton said. He switched over and waited for his brother's face to appear on the screen. A nervous current of anticipation throbbed in him. "Well, Fred?" he asked at length. "You've been a busy little bee, haven't you?" Fred said. "I understand you have a new security chief to watch over you." "I don't have time to make conversation now," Walton snapped. "Nor do I. You fooled us badly, with that newsbreak on Sellors. You forced us into wiping out a useful contact prematurely." "Not so useful," Walton said. "I was on to him. If you hadn't killed him, I would have had to handle the job myself. You saved me the trouble." "My, my! Getting ruthless, aren't we!" "When the occasion demands," Walton said. "Fair enough. We'll play the same way." Fred's eyes narrowed. "You recall our conversation in the Bronze Room the other day, Roy?" "Vividly." "I've called to ask for your decision," Fred said. "One way or the other." Walton was caught off guard. "But you said I had a week's grace!" "The period has been halved," Fred said. "We now see it's necessary to accelerate things." "Tell me what you want me to do. Then I'll give you my answer." "It's simple enough. You're to resign in my favor. If it's not done by nightfall tomorrow, we'll find it necessary to release the Lamarre serum. Those are our terms, and don't try to bargain with me." Walton was silent for a moment, contemplating his brother's cold face on the screen. Finally he said, "It takes time to get such things done. I can't just resign overnight." "FitzMaugham did." "Ah, yes--if you call that a resignation. But unless you want to inherit the same sort of chaos I did, you'd better give me a little time to prepare things." Fred's eyes gleamed. "Does that mean you'll yield? You'll resign in my favor?" "There's no guarantee the UN will accept you," Walton warned. "Even with my recommendation, I can't promise a one hundred percent chance of success."