This was much finer than the Blakeslee affair, of course; more subtle
and more polished by far. It was not nearly as obvious, as blatant,
but the basic similarity was nevertheless there. Could this similarity
have been accidental? No--unthinkable. In this undertaking accidents
could be ruled out--definitely. Whatever had been done had been done
deliberately and after meticulous preparation.
But Star A Star _never_ repeated. Therefore, this time, he
_had_ repeated; deliberately, to throw Alcon and his psychologists
off the trail. But he, Fossten, was not to be deceived by even such
clever tactics.
Gannel was, then, really Gannel, just as Blakeslee had really been
Blakeslee. Blakeslee had obviously been under control. Here, however,
there were two possibilities. First, Gannel might be under similar
control. Second, Star A Star might have operated upon Gannel's mind
so radically as to make an entirely different man of him. Either
hypothesis would explain Gannel's extreme reticence in submitting to
any except the most superficial mental examination. Each would account
for Gannel's calm certainty that Alcon was afraid to attack him openly.
Which of these hypotheses was the correct one could be determined
later. It was unimportant, anyway, for in either case there was now
accounted for the heretofore inexplicable power of Gannel's mind.
In either case it was not Gannel's mind at all, but that of THE
Lensman, who was making Gannel act as he could not normally have acted.
Somewhere hereabouts, in either case, there actually was lurking
Boskonia's Nemesis; the mentality whom above all others Boskonia was
raving to destroy; the one Lensman who had never been seen or heard or
perceived; the feared and detested Lensman about whom nothing whatever
had ever been learned.
That Lensman, whoever he might be, had at last met his match. Gannel,
as Gannel, was of no importance whatever; the veriest pawn. But he who
stood behind Gannel--Ah! He, Fossten himself, would wait and he would
watch. Then, at precisely the correct instant, he would pounce!
* * * * *
And Kinnison, during the absence of the prime minister, worked swiftly
and surely. Twelve men died, and as they ceased to live twelve others,
grimly ready and thoroughly equipped for any emergency, took their
places. And during that same minute of time Kinnison strode into
Alcon's private sanctum.
The Tyrant hurled orders to his guards--orders which were not obeyed.
He then went for his own weapons, and he was fast--but Kinnison was
faster. Alcon's guns and hands disappeared and the sickened Tellurian
slugged him into unconsciousness. Then grimly, relentlessly, he took
every item of interest from the Thralian's mind, slew him, and assumed
forthwith the title and the full authority of the Tyrant of Thrale.
Unlike most such revolutions, this one was accomplished with very
little bloodshed and with scarcely any interference with the business
of the realm. Indeed, if anything, there was an improvement in almost
every respect, since the new men were more thoroughly trained and were
more competent than the previous officers had been. Also, they had
arranged matters beforehand so that their accessions could be made with
a minimum of friction.
They were as yet loyal to Kinnison and to Boskonia; and in a rather
faint hope of persuading them to stay that way, without developing any
queer ideas anent in turn overthrowing him, the Lensman called them
into conference.
"Men, you know how you got where you are," he began, coldly. "You are
loyal to me at the moment. You know that real co-operation is the only
way to achieve maximum productivity, and that true co-operation cannot
exist in any regime in which the department heads, individually or en
masse, are trying to do away with the dictator.
"Some of you will probably be tempted very shortly to begin to work
against me instead of for me and with me. I am not pleading with you,
nor even asking you out of gratitude for what I have done for you, to
refrain from such activities. Instead, I am telling you as a simple
matter of fact that any or all of you, at the first move toward any
such disloyalty, will die. In that connection, I know that all of you
have been exerting every resource to discover in what manner your
predecessors came so conveniently to die, and that none of you have
succeeded."
One by one they admitted that they had not.
"Nor will you, ever. Be advised that I know vastly more than Alcon
did, and that I am far more powerful. Alcon, while in no sense a
weakling, did not know how to command obedience. I do. Alcon's sources
of information were meager and untrustworthy; mine are comprehensive
and reliable. Alcon very often did not know that anything was being
plotted against him until the thing was well along; I shall always
know of the first seditious move. Alcon blustered, threatened, and
warned; he tortured; he gave some offenders a second chance before he
killed. I shall do none of those things. I do not threaten, I do not
warn, I do not torture. Above all, I give no snake a second chance to
strike at me. I execute traitors without bluster or fanfare. For your
own good, gentlemen, I advise you in all seriousness to believe that I
mean precisely every word that I have uttered."
They slunk out, but Boskonian habit was too strong. Thus, within three
days, three of Kinnison's newly appointed headmen died. He called
another cabinet meeting.
"The three new members have listened to the recording of our first
meeting, hence there is no need to repeat what I said at that time,"
the Tyrant announced, in a voice so silkily venomous that his listeners
cringed. "I will add to it merely that I will have full co-operation,
and only co-operation, if I have to kill all of you and all of your
successors to get it. You may go."