Guy turned to the news-recorder and read the pages with aloof interest. A great verbal fight was beginning between Kane's outfit and another. Guy shook his head. It was all wrong. Kane shouldn't be fighting the Patrol. They'd break him--and then what good could he do. For even a publication company such as Kane's to attempt to sway the people against the wishes of the Patrol was foolish. And Kane's interests covered everything possible in the realm of the Fourth Estate. Books, broadcast, newsprint, commercial advertising, everything. A trace of humor passed through Guy. It was a trace of that same humor that had been essential in saving every human being since the beginning of time. Guy listened to the glowing claims of an advertiser on the newscast and laughed to think what the thought-beam would do to his script--"--and these cigarettes, ladies and gentlemen, are made of no worse a grade of floor-sweepings than any other brand!" He laughed, and it did him good. But this rise in feeling was short-lived. The next newscast took him right down to the bottom again. It was a long editorial, written by one of the High Command, denouncing Kane and his publications, and officially suspending all operations of the Kane Publishing Co. for publicly and aggressively resisting the Patrol's attempt to add still an eleventh planet to the Solar System. It made no matter that Ertene was passing through. They did not know that Ertene was dirigible and could be swung into an orbit. In fact they thought not. But they were determined to visit Ertene. And Guy Maynard knew that their intent was to ravage the nomad of her treasures and every bit of her science. So Kane was no longer a factor. He had fallen in the battle to save a friend--himself, Guy Maynard. Guy felt that he was an unfortunate fellow. Everything that he loved and wanted to befriend was going to hell--or had gone there already. Even Ertene-- No! Perhaps he could still do something about that! Not openly. But he could pass as Ertinian, he knew, provided that he shaved twice daily and managed to hide his razor well. It would take years of careful planning and working to get himself to a dominant position on Ertene--one that would be without question. He'd done it on Terra--using Ertinian science, and no doubt he could do the same thing on Ertene using Terran science. He had time. Ertene was still far, far out beyond the orbit of Mephisto and the speed gave him years to prepare, unless an unhappy accident cut his time. He made an oath, then. There were two things to take with him. The vortex projector and the thought-beam. One, Terra had. The other, neither knew existed. A threat on the part of Ertene to blast Sol itself with vortices might hold Terra away, and the thought-beam would solidify Ertene against invaders.