The casual observer might have been fooled. Tawney's guard was down only
for an instant; then the expression of cold fury and determination on
his face dropped away as though the shutter of a camera had clicked, and
he was all smiles and affability. They were honored guests here, one
would have thought, and this pudgy agent of the Jupiter Equilateral
combine was their genial host, anxious for their welfare, eager to do
anything he could for their comfort....
They were amazed by the luxuriousness of the ship. For the next few
hours they received the best treatment, sumptuous accommodations,
excellent food.
They were finishing their second cup of coffee when Tawney asked,
"Feeling better, gentlemen?"
"You do things in a big way," Johnny said. "This is real coffee, made
from grounds. Must have cost a fortune to ship it out here."
Tawney spread his hands. "We keep it for special occasions. Like when we
have special visitors."
"Even when the visits aren't voluntary," Greg added sourly.
"We have to be realistic," Tawney said. "Would you have come if we
invited you? Of course not. You gentlemen chose to come out to the Belt
in spite of my warnings. You thus made things very awkward for us, upset
certain of our plans." He looked at Greg. "We don't ordinarily allow
people to upset our plans, but now we find that we're forced to include
you in our plans, whether you happen to like the idea or not."
"You're doing a lot of talking," Greg said. "Why don't you come to the
point?"
Tawney was no longer smiling. "We happen to know that your father struck
a rich lode on one of his claims."
"That's interesting," Greg said. "Did Dad tell you that?"
"He didn't have to. A man can't keep a secret like that, not for very
long. Ask your friend here, if you don't believe me. And we make it our
business to know what's going on out here. We have to, in order to
survive."
"Well, suppose you heard right. The law says that what a man finds on
his own claim is his."
"Certainly," Tawney said. "Nobody would think of claim-jumping, these
days. But when a man happens to die before he can bring in his bonanza,
then it's a question of who gets there first, wouldn't you think?"
"Not when the man is murdered," Greg said hotly, "not by a long shot."
"But you can't prove that your father was murdered."
"If I could, I wouldn't be here."
"Then I think we'll stick to the law," Tawney said, "and call it an
accident."
"And what about my brother? Was that an accident?"
"Ah, yes, your brother." Tawney's eyes hardened. "Quite a different
matter, that. Sometimes Doc tends to be over-zealous in carrying out his
assigned duties. I can assure you that he has been ... disciplined."
"That's not going to help Tom very much."
"Unfortunately not," Tawney said. "Your brother made a very foolish
move, under the circumstances. But from a practical point of view,
perhaps it's not entirely a tragedy."
"What do you mean by that?"
"From what I've heard," Tawney said, "you didn't have much use for your
twin brother. And now you certainly won't have to share your father's
legacy...."
It was too much. With a roar Greg swung at the little fat man. The blow
caught Tawney full in the jaw, jerked his head back. Greg threw his
shoulder into a hard left, slamming Tawney back against the wall. The
guard charged across the room, dragging them apart as Tawney blubbered
and tried to cover his face. Greg dug his elbow into the guard's
stomach, twisted away and started for Tawney again. Then Johnny caught
his arm and spun him around. "Stop it," he snapped. "Use your head,
boy...."
Greg stopped, glaring at Tawney and gasping for breath. The company man
picked himself up, rubbing his hand across his mouth. For a moment he
trembled with rage. Then he gripped the table with one hand, forcibly
regaining his control. He even managed a sickly smile. "Just like your
father," he said, "too hot-headed for your own good. But we'll let it
pass. I brought you here to make you an offer, a very generous offer,
and I'll still make it. I'm a businessman, when I want something I want
I bargain for it. If I have to share a profit to get it, I share the
profit. All right ... you know where your father's strike is. We want
it. We can't find it, so you've got us over a barrel. We're ready to
bargain."