Free Executive by Piers Anthony Page A

we do, Saturn will know who told,” he countered. “The premier of Ganymede will be finished—by assassination, if not by political means.”
    “But you knew!” I said. “So I didn't have to find out through the premier.”
    “I found out, once given the hint,” Mondy said. "My source was coerced, and connected to the premier.
    I must not betray it."
    I sighed. “No, you must not, and I must not. But we can't sit idly by while that ship lands. How do we proceed?”
    “We assess our resources and our desires. Then we formulate a program to best utilize the former to achieve the latter. We stand to gain considerably if we manage this correctly.”
    “ Gain? ” I demanded. “If we even come out even, I'll be surprised!”
    “Ganymede could shift orbits, from Saturn to Jupiter,” he said. “That would be the minor gain.”
    "It would be a phenomenal gain! It would signal the failure of Communism to establish any lasting foothold in the Jupiter sphere. And I can see how, if we save the premier's hide, that shift could occur.
    But if that's minor, what would be the major gain?"
    “We could in effect shift Saturn itself to Jupiter orbit,” he said seriously.
    I whistled. “You had better spell out the details!”
    “If an issue is made and Saturn loses, the present government there will fall. The man who manages to resolve the crisis will probably step into power there.”
    “And that man would be—” I said, seeing it.
    “Admiral Khukov.”
    “Admiral Khukov,” I echoed.
    “Who remembers his benefactors, by whatever device.”
    “Who remembers,” I agreed. “With him in power, there—”
    Mondy nodded. “You could end the cold war.”
    “And make the Solar System safe for mankind,” I said. “What a dream!”
    “But at a price. The confrontation could destroy the System.”
    “Is it worth the risk?” I asked musingly.
    “That doesn't matter. The situation is already upon us.”
    I sighed. “It is indeed!”
    We hashed it out, and Mondy and Emerald departed. We had devised a strategy, but we all knew it was risky. We could indeed precipitate a devastating System war if we miscalculated at any stage or even if luck went against us. I would not have entered into such a program had I been able to avoid it, but as Mondy said, we were already committed. If Ganymede became a Saturnian military base, Jupiter would be in dire peril. And Ganymede would become that, if we did not act.
    First we had to develop a legitimate source of information, so that Saturn would not know that the premier had told us. Until we had that we could not afford to make our first move.
    Meanwhile, the job of setting up our new departments proceeded irregularly. Senator Stonebridge advised me that he was assembling a package of programs that should halt inflation and balance the budget but that there would be formidable resistance to it.
    “Resistance—to accomplishing what I have been installed to accomplish?” I asked. “Why?”
    “Because the standard of living of the average citizen will have to be materially lowered,” he said. “This entails a universal income tax of fifty percent, and—”
    “Fifty percent!” I exclaimed. “Impossible!”
    “I told you there would be resistance,” he said.
    “Suppose we make it a flat tax of twenty-five percent? That seems more equitable.”
    “Suppose you find me an additional source of revenue that will produce six hundred billion dollars per year?” he returned.
    “I'll look for it,” I agreed. But I knew I was in trouble. There were no easy answers economically, but somehow I had to find a way to balance that budget without triggering a revolution on Jupiter.
    We watched the Saturn ship as it moved steadily through space toward our sphere. Theoretically it was one of a regular supply convoy, relatively innocent; we had no reason to intercept it, other than the one we could not reveal. It was scheduled to arrive in seven days if we did not find a pretext to stop