"But the Comrade Premier told me not to go, anyway. Then Comrade Premier further told me that Ruscar had concluded his usefulness after we had Stalin's resurrected brain. The Comrade Premier--" "Let him talk for himself, Archevski! And I'll see you later for disobeying my orders." "No you won't." "He's in my employ now," Dorlup told Chenkov. "What he was saying is this: why do we need Ruscar? Let Ruscar go back where he came from. We can handle everything ourselves." "Georgi, you don't mean it." "I mean it." "Then you are _not_ yourself! You had better see a doctor. Why, only the day before yesterday we spoke with Ruscar about what all this could mean. Defeating the United States we could conquer the earth, of course. But what is the Earth here and now, this year, when with Ruscar's help we can have all Earth, through all the centuries, for all time?" "What makes you think we can trust this Ruscar?" "That's fantastic. Everything is arranged. Perhaps later, much later--after we have consolidated our position in time, then we can think of doing without Ruscar's help. But not now." "Well--" said Dorlup, at a loss for words. The door opened. It was Georgi Malenkov who stood there. * * * * * "Vladimir, I was told I could find you here in conference with someone, they didn't know who. They--Vladimir!" Malenkov looked at Dorlup. His small eyes bulged. Chenkov's mouth dropped open. "This is impossible!" "Vladimir, please. Please. I see it now. I see it all--" Malenkov had grown pale staring at his duplicate. "You have this double. You and Ruscar. You plan to do away with me and keep a figurehead instead. Vladimir, please, I can listen to reason. I can make my rule a partnership, a triumvirate if you wish." Malenkov was blubbering. "I could smell it in the air, this plot, this intrigue, this--I knew something was afoot. Something I didn't know what. All hands were turned against me, all--" Tedor ran to the door, closed it, locked it. "Vladimir, I beg of you--" "Oh, shut up! I don't know any more about this than you do. You are Malenkov, I know that now. The other man looks like you but doesn't talk like you." Tedor took Archevski's gun from his own pocket. "You try to figure it out," he said. He gave the gun to Dorlup, who stood watch over Russia's two top leaders. Tedor ran to the drapes which hid the dressing alcove, tore them down, ripped them into strips. He bound Chenkov first, hand and foot. "You realize you haven't a chance, whatever game you're playing," Chenkov said. Tedor bound Malenkov, then fastened them together, sitting on the floor, back to back. If one of them struggled with his bonds he would strangle the other, for Tedor had tied their necks together. "Give me the gun, Dorlup," he said, taking the pistol. "I haven't time. I can't play with you. I want you to answer one question and I'm going to give you ten seconds to start talking. If you don't, I'll kill you."