"Kingman!" said Don Channing. "So he's the bright guy behind this. I get it now. Somehow he discovered a detector, and he's been playing the market by getting the quotations by sub-etheric transmission at C² and beating the Northern Landing market. And did you get the latest bit of luck? Kingman still is unaware of the fact that we are onto him--and have perfected this C² transmission. Here's where he gets caught in his own trap!" "How?" "We're not in too bad shape for making good, honest two-ways out of this sub-ether stuff. Kingman is still behind because he hasn't got a return line back to Terra--he must be using our beams, which gives us a return edge." "Why not get him tossed into the clink?" asked Walt. "That's practical. Besides, we're sitting in a great big pile of gravy right now. We can prove Kingman has been violating the law to embezzle, mulct, steal, commit grand larceny, and so on. We're going to take a swing at Mr. Kingman and Terran Electric that they won't forget. We can't lose, because I'm not a good sportsman when I find that I've been tricked. We're going after Kingman in our own fashion--and if we lose, we're going to go tinhorn and cry for the gendarmes. I'm not proud." "What do you plan?" "We'll put a horde of folks on the decoupler files with the code of Terran Electric filed with the government offices. We can get the code, and I'm of the opinion that Kingman wouldn't take time to figure out a new code, so he'll be using the old one. As soon as we find a message in that code that is either addressed Terran Electric or pertains to V. E. Preferred stock, we'll start to intercept all such messages and use them for our own good." "That's illegal." "Yup. But who's gonna holler? Kingman can't." "But suppose we lose--?" "Kingman will not know we've been tricking him. Besides, we can't lose with two ways to get ahead of his one. Come on, fellows, we've got to help get the extra receivers together." "How are we going to cut through the Channing Layer?" "Easy. That's where we'll use the relay stations at Luna, Deimos, and the six portables that circle Venus." "I get it. O.K., Don, let's get to work." "Right. And we'd better leave a guy here to collect any more interesting messages from Kingman's crowd. We can tune it right on to Kingman's alloy, and that'll make that music take a back seat. We need narrower selectivity." "Chuck's gang will find that if it is to be found," smiled Walt. "We're really on the track this time." * * * * * A dead-black spaceship drifted across the face of Luna slowly, and its course, though apparently aimless, was the course of a ship or a man hunting something. It darted swiftly, poised, and then zigzagged forward, each straight-side of the jagged course shorter than the one before. It passed over a small crater and stopped short. Below, there was a spaceship parked beside a driver tube anchored in the pumice.