"Not exactly, there was so much of it. Spread it on me now, huh?" Garlock did so. "Thanks, pal, for the scoop. I'll crash it right now, and follow up with Banks. 'Bye!" "Think you can deliver on that, Clee?" Banks asked. "Sure. Both Deggi and Alsyne will need a lot of extra money, fast. They'll play along." They did; and that three-starship tour--which visited twenty solar systems instead of one--was the most sensational thing old Earth had ever spawned. Belle and Garlock did not spend that week end on Earth. "We go," they said, as soon as the _Pleiades_ was empty of pressmen, and they took James and Lola along. "If we _never_ see another such brawl as this is going to be," Belle told Banks, who was basking in glory and entreating them to stay on for the show, "it will be exactly twenty minutes too soon." Thus it came about that Earth's first four deep-spacemen were completely out of reach when unexpected developments began. * * * Alonzo P. Ferber was one of the VIP's on Bundy's personally-conducted tour of the stars. As has been said, he was a very able executive. He had an extremely keen profit-sense. This new thing smelled--simply reeked--of money. SSE would _have_ to get in on it. Ferber was not thin-skinned; where money was concerned it would never even occur to him to cherish grudges or to retain animosities. Wherefore SSE's purchasing department suggested to the Galaxian Society that negotiations be opened concerning licenses, franchises, royalties, and so on. These suggestions were politely but firmly brushed off. Then emissaries were sent, of ever-increasing caliber and weight. Next, Ferber himself tried the tri-di; and finally, he came in person. Rebuffed, he made such legally-sound threats that Evans and Macey agreed to a meeting; stating flatly, however, that no commitments could possibly be made without the knowledge and approval of the Society's president, Cleander Garlock. Thus, at the meeting, the Galaxians made only two statements that were even approximately definite. One was that Garlock would probably return to Earth during the afternoon or evening of the following Friday; the other that they would take the matter up with Garlock as soon as they could. After that meeting Macey was unperturbed, but Evans was a deeply worried man. "You see," he explained, "the real crux was not even mentioned." "No? What is it, then?" "Operators, Primes, and the practically non-existent laws pertaining to their ... what? Labor? Skill? Genius? For instance, could Garlock be forced to do whatever it is that he does? On the other hand, if Ferber offered Belle Bellamy five million credits a year to 'work' for SSE, is there anything we could do about it?" "Oh. I thought all there was to it was that you'd delay 'em for a year or so and that'd be it."