Skardoth leaned back behind his desk and smiled blandly. "It is probably obvious to you that the Federation has, for some reason of its own, framed you on this charge." He smiled softly. "Naturally, I don't know why you've been condemned to Earth, but that doesn't concern the Group. We _do_ know that you have been condemned illegally--so you will want to escape. "What we have in mind is this: we will get away from this planet after we have taken it over. We will force the Condelari Federation to recognize us as an independent government. Are you with us?" Stern forced a grin. "I'm with you." "Excellent," said Skardoth. "We will have use for you." He put out his hand, and Stern, feeling trapped, took it. "Good luck, John Stern," said Skardoth. It was that last remark that finally made up Stern's mind; Skardoth shouldn't have known his _first_ name! He shouldn't have known any part of the name that the Council of Judges had assigned to Yorkan Varr. Since he did, it meant that Matt Skardoth knew more than he should! * * * * * It was nearly three weeks before "John Stern" figured out a method of attack. If he could only get his hands on Matt Skardoth, he'd be able to prove that he, Yorkan Varr, was innocent of the crime of which he had been accused. And, possibly, he would be able to prove that the others of the Group were innocent, too. Skardoth's plan was quite evident. Earth was a Class Q-1 civilization; it bordered on being admitted to the Federation. But Skardoth had been on Earth for five hundred years; the short-lived Earthmen had no idea that their destinies had been controlled by a being whose life span was nearly ten times as long as theirs. Yorkan Varr--he tried to think of himself as John Stern now--was, like all citizens of the Federation, extremely long-lived. He would easily live to be a thousand--perhaps more. But the Exiles had, in the last few centuries, taken advantage of the Earthmen--a fact which had not been communicated to the Council of Judges. The Council evidently thought that the Earth was still in the lower classes of civilization; they didn't realize that Earthmen had already built interplanetary spaceships and might yet build interstellar vehicles. Stern felt he could trust the girl, Elizabeth. She seemed to be aware that something was wrong, but she didn't quite seem to know what. One night, Skardoth assigned both of them to go out to Long Island to take a look at the Nuclear Power Plant there. He wanted data on the new nucleolectric energies that had been developed. Elizabeth was supposedly a nuclear scientist assigned to the Long Island plant; for twelve years she had built up her identity there. But, as they approached the installation, she slowed the car and parked it alongside the road. "What's the idea, Liz?" he asked. "There's something troubling you Johnny. What is it?" He looked at her bleakly. "You really want to know?"