"We never did. But I think we'll nail 'em now. The kaleidowhirl's ready to go, and it's a honey. And I think _Citizen_ will sell 'em too! We're on our way, Roy." "I hope so," Walton said. * * * * * He was unable to bring himself to watch Percy's program, even though he reached his room in time that night. He knew there could be no harm in watching--at least not for him--but the idea of voluntarily submitting his mind to external tampering was too repugnant to accept. Instead he spent the hour dictating a report on the block meeting, for benefit of his pollster staff. When he was done with that, he turned to the 2100 edition of _Citizen_, which came clicking from the telefax slot right on schedule. He had to look hard for the Venus story. Finally he found it tucked away at the bottom of the sheet. _ACCIDENT ON VENUS_ _A big blowup took place on the planet Venus earlier today. Sky-men who watched the popoff say it was caused by an atomic explosion in the planet's atmosphere._ _Meanwhile, attempts are being made to reach the team of Earth engineers working on Venus. No word from them yet. They may be dead._ Walton chuckled. _They may be dead_, indeed! By now Lang and his team, and the rescue mission as well, lay dead under showers of radioactive formaldehyde, and Venus had been turned into a blazing hell ten times less livable than it had been before. Percy had mishandled the news superbly. For one thing, he had carefully neglected to link Lang with Popeek in any way. That was good connotative thinking. It would be senseless to identify Popeek in the public mind with disasters or fiascos of any kind. For another, the skimpy insignificance of the piece implied that it had been some natural phenomenon that sent Venus up in flames, not the fumbling attempts of the terraformers. Good handling there, too. Walton felt cheerful. He slept soundly, knowing that the public consciousness was being properly shaped. * * * * * By 0900, when he arrived at his office, the pollsters had reported a ten percent swing in public opinion, in the direction of Popeek and Walton. At 1000, _Citizen_ hit the slots with an extra announcing that prospects for peaceful occupation of New Earth looked excellent. The editorial praised Walton. The letters-to-the-editor column, carefully fabricated by Lee Percy, showed a definite upswing of opinion. The trend continued, and it was contagious. By 1100, when Walton left the Cullen Building and caught a jetcopter for United Nations Headquarters, the pro-Popeek trend in public opinion was almost overwhelming. The copter put down before the gleaming green-glass facade of UN Headquarters; Walton handed the man a bill and went inside, where a tense-faced Ludwig was waiting for him. "They started early," Ludwig said. "It's been going on since 1000." "How do things look?"