Free Earthbound (Winston Science Fiction Book 1) by Milton Lesser Page B

and all I want is a one-word reply. Will you work for us?”
    “No.”
    The man called Clarence Roth sucked in his breath sharply; Sam thumped his left fist against his right palm meaningfully; Ganymede Gus shook his head. But Mr. Fairchild remained unruffled. “As you can see,” he told Pete, “our Mr. Smith would like to take the matter into his own hands. He prefers violence to any other form of arbitration. Although he cannot become quite so violent, our Mr. Roth agrees. And Ganymede Gus is disappointed in you. As for myself, young man, I’ve always been a reasonable person. I am ready to reason with you.”
    “It won’t do any good,” Pete advised him. “I’ve had enough of all this.”
    “He says that periodically!” Ganymede Gus chortled.
    “But each time I’ve come up with something else which has changed his mind.”
    “This time,” Mr. Fairchild predicted, “we are in a position to change his mind permanently. Consider, Peter, do you like your family? Are you proud of the name your father has made?”
    “Of course — but you can forget about that. Sam threatened me with that a while ago, but the police can take care of it.”
    Mr. Fairchild nodded. “At least you’re honest. But no, that isn’t what I had in mind. I’ve referred to your father’s name. You are proud of it, and that’s both understandable and commendable. Thus you felt bad when you couldn’t take that name back into space, and now you certainly wouldn’t want to do anything else to hurt it, isn’t that so? Fine, fine. And this time I don’t mean an error of omission; I mean one of commission.”
    “I don’t understand.” Pete frowned.
    “Recently you gave Gus some information concerning the orbit of the Spaceship Crape Ring , did you not?”
    “Yes, I did. But Gus . . .”
    “Why you did it does not matter. Let’s confine ourselves to what is relevant. Still more recently, the Crape Ring was boarded in deep space, a fortune in jewelry stolen. Right?”
    “Y-yes.” Doubtfully.
    “That was made possible by the intelligence you passed along to Ganymede Gus. You are, therefore, in the eyes of the law, as much responsible for the looting of the Crape Ring as any of the men who actually boarded the ship. Can you see the logic in that?”
    “Sure,” Pete said. “Of course I can see it. But . . .”
    “But nothing. You are guilty. Thoroughly guilty. Very well. Were the police to discover that, were they to bring you to trial for your crime, that would bring a smear to your family name. Consider, Peter. From what I hear, your father is now an unhappy man. One son was killed in space, the other is earthbound. On top of that, if you were to be sentenced to a prison term . . .”
    “You wouldn’t dare!” Pete cried. “You’d implicate yourself as well! I’ll admit it, I’m in a mess. But I don’t intend to hide it forever. Someday soon I’ll have to tell the police. I mean that. And when I do, all of you will — but that’s beside the point. You wouldn’t dare to turn me in, because you’d be admitting your own guilt if you did.”
    “Good!”‘ Mr. Fairchild chuckled. “You have a fine head on your shoulders. I like that, despite the fact that what you say isn’t quite true. There are certain men in our organization, Peter, who are expendable. Along with you, I can implicate them, and nothing will ever lead to me. I’m a respectable business man with a good record. No one will believe any ridiculous accusations about me. Rest assured I can do precisely what I say — and will, too, if you force my hand.”
    Ganymede Gus stood up, paced back and forth nervously. “When you say some men are expendable, do you mean anyone in this room?”
    “Figure it out for yourself,” Mr. Fairchild told him, laughing. “Remember, Gus: you brought Peter into this in the first place.”
    “Well, I don’t think it’s fair. . .”
    “No one pays you to determine what is and what is not fair! You’re wanted by the