"You're sure?" Donatti laughed. "I've just heard Nora kissing Grayson via Z-wave!" "You've--what--?" "You heard me--" The phone clicked. Donatti reached for the intercom. "Stop everything!" he roared. "Break down the first page and set up for bright red ink! Seven-slug banner: Z-WAVE! across the top in red. Get that started and we'll write the story on the lino. Morgan! Get over here and do something about it! You can run a lino; don't bother to script it first, go down and set it up! Timmy! Bust out a picture of Grayson and Nora Phillips if you can. Jones? Start a Page Three blast against Haedaecker and his goddammed 'Haedaecker's Theory.' Jason? Make a repro of this tape. Lewiston! Bust into the soap opera just before the grand climax with a 'special announcement.' Brief and not too informative, details later, you know. Forhan, see if you can get a statement--as if we need one, but it'll do no harm--from Senator Beaumont. Morganser, do the same with Representative Horace. We'll print 'em side by side. Carol, go out to Dirty Joe's and bring me back a gallon of black coffee." The _News_ office was ticking like a time bomb about to go off when Huston came in. His first words were: "Did anybody have the brains to try calling 'em back?" "Ah--I doubt it." "Dammit, do it! You try calling 'em back!" "And you?" Huston scowled. "They're out there on Latham's Triplets, all alone and unprotected. Y'know what happens next?" "I can imagine." "Well, this is what amounts to war. I'm collecting what I can to go out there and see that they're protected!" "Good luck," said Donatti. "Y'wanna hear the record before you take off?" "I can wait that long. Yes!" The superimposed recording was just ending when one of the office boys brought back two papers. One of them was Donatti's, with "Z-WAVE!" in a bright red headline across the top. The other was as red, as large, and as vigorous. It said, merely: "LIES" "This is still a dirty fight," said Huston sourly. He scanned the opposition paper with a sneer: "Prepared recording, false evidence, untruth, political maneuvering, smear technique, untruth, false hope, clever machine politics, O hell, Donatti. Y'know the only way to shut these bastards up?" "I can guess." "Well, that's what I'm going to do!" Huston left Donatti's office on the dead run. * * * * * Hoagland faced his underlings across the desk, his eyes glittering. "So I played a hunch and was wrong. It's not gone yet. All we have to do is play it close." "But what can we do?" "Outguess 'em!" "How?" "You're not very bright, are you?" sneered Hoagland. "Good thing Jeffers is running the paper. You know, don't you, Jeffers?" "Sure. All I have to do is to reproduce a recording of Grayson's first false attempt on Proxima I." "Right. And then?"