*
“I wonder what he’s up to,” said Russ.
Stutsman’s car had stopped in the dock section of New York. Crumbling, rotting piers and old tumbledown warehouses, deserted and unused since the last ship sailed the ocean before giving way to air commerce, loomed darkly, like grim ghosts, in the darkness.
Stutsman had gotten out of the car and said: “Wait here.”
“Yes, sir,” said the voice of the driver.
Stutsman strode away, down a dark street. The televisor kept pace with him and on the screen he could be seen as a darker shape moving among the shadows of that old, almost forgotten section of the Solar System’s greatest city.
Another shadow detached itself from the darkness of the street, shuffled toward Stutsman.
“Sir,” said a whining voice, “I haven’t eaten ...”
There was a swift movement as Stutsman’s stick lashed out, a thud as it connected with the second shadow’s head. The shadow crumpled on the pavement. Stutsman strode on.
Greg sucked in his breath. “He isn’t very sociable tonight.”
Stutsman ducked into an alley where even deeper darkness lay. Russ, with a delicate adjustment, slid the televisor along, closer to Stutsman, determined not to lose sight of him for an instant.
The man suddenly turned into a doorway so black that nothing could be seen. Sounds of sharp, impatient rappings came out of the screen as Stutsman struck the door with his stick.
Brilliant illumination sprang out over the doorway, but Stutsman seemed not to see it, went on knocking. The colors on the screen were peculiarly distorted.
“Ultra-violet,” grunted Greg. “Whoever he’s calling on wants to have a good look before letting anybody in.”
The door creaked open and a shaft of normal light spewed out into the street, turning its murkiness to pallid yellow.
Stutsman stepped inside.
The man at the door jerked his head. “Back room,” he said.
*
The televisor slid through the door into the lighted room behind Stutsman. Dust lay thick on the woodwork and floors. Patches of plaster had broken away. Furrows zigzagged across the floor, marking the path of heavy boxes or furniture which had been pushed along in utter disdain of the flooring. Cheap wall-paper hung in tatters from the walls, streaked with water from some broken pipe.
But the back room was a startling contrast to the first. Rich, comfortable furniture filled it. The floor was covered with a steel-cloth rug and steel-cloth hangings, colorfully painted, hid the walls.
A man sat under a lamp, reading a newspaper. He rose to his feet, like the sudden uncoiling of springs.
Russ gasped. That face was one of the best known faces in the entire Solar System. A ratlike face, with cruel cunning printed on it that had been on front pages and TV screens often, but never for pay.
“Scorio!” whispered Russ.
Greg nodded and his lips were drawn tight.
“Stutsman,” said Scorio, surprised. “You’re the last person in the world I was expecting. Come in. Have a chair. Make yourself comfortable.”
Stutsman snorted. “This isn’t a social call.”
“I didn’t figure it was,” replied the gangster, “but sit down anyway.”
Gingerly Stutsman sat down on the edge of a chair, hunched forward. Scorio resumed his seat and waited.
“I have a job for you,” Stutsman announced bluntly.
“Fine. It isn’t often you have one for me. Three-four years ago, wasn’t it?”
“We may be watched,” warned Stutsman.
The mobster started from his chair, his eyes darting about the room.
Stutsman grunted disgustedly. “If we’re watched, there isn’t anything we can do about it.”
“We can’t, huh?” snarled the gangster. “Why not?”
“Because the watcher is on the West Coast. We can’t reach him. If he’s watching, he can see every move we make, hear every word we say.”
“Who is it?”
*
“Greg Manning or Russ Page,” said Stutsman. “You’ve heard of them?”
“Sure. I heard of them.”
“They have a new kind of television,” said Stutsman. “They can see and hear everything that’s happening on Earth, perhaps in all the Solar System. But I don’t think they’re watching us now. Craven has a machine that can detect their televisor. It registers certain field effects they use. They weren’t watching when I left Craven’s laboratory just a few minutes ago. They may have picked me up since, but I don’t think so.”
“So Craven has made a detector,” said Greg calmly. “He can tell when we’re watching now.”
“He’s a clever cuss,” agreed Russ.
“Take a look at that machine now,” urged Scorio. “See if they’re watching. You shouldn’t have come here. You should have let me know and I would have met you some place. I can’t have people knowing where my hideout is.”
“Quiet down,” snapped Stutsman. “I haven’t got the machine. It weighs half a ton.”
Scorio sank deeper into his chair, worried. “Do you want to take a chance and talk business?”
“Certainly. That’s why I’m here. This is the proposition. Manning and Page are working in a laboratory out on the West Coast, in the mountains. I’ll give you the exact location later. They have some papers we want. We wouldn’t mind if something happened to the laboratory. It might, for example blow up. But we want the papers first.”
*
Scorio said nothing. His face was quiet and cunning.
“Give me the papers,” said Stutsman, “and I’ll see that you get to any planet you want to. And I’ll give you two hundred thousand in Interplanetary Credit certificates. Give me proof that the laboratory blew up or melted down or something else happened to it and I’ll boost the figure to five hundred thousand.”
Scorio did not move a muscle as he asked: “Why don’t you have some of your own mob do this job?”
“Because I can’t be connected with it in any way,” said Stutsman. “If you slip up and something happens, I won’t be able to do a thing for you. That’s why the price is high.”
The gangster’s eyes slitted. “If the papers are worth that much to you, why wouldn’t
