That queer way of his of emphasising words out of all proportion to their value. Now when he is — nothing. Nothing to Jorgensen was a man who had no power over other men. Power was what he loved more than anything. Power over men, possibly women, too. The sleek smoothness of the man! Even in borrowed clothes he achieved a sort of bourgeois respectability. And yet behind it all was this violent delight in power. It was there in his eyes, in the quick, down-drawn frown of his thick eyebrows. But never exposed, never revealed. The iron claw in the velvet gloves. I'd seen it all my life. This man belonged to the ranks of the controllers of the machine of grab.

I suddenly saw that he was watching me as though he knew what was in my mind. He smiled. 'You could make a lot of money out of this, Gansert,' he said, 'if you played your cards right.'

He got up and paused at the chartroom door with his hand on my shoulder. 'You've been in this game long enough to know what a scramble for new minerals means. And you're your own master. Think it over.'

'What's he mean by that?' Curtis asked as the Norwegian went for'ard.

I looked at him then and realised that as a regular army officer he was mentally incapable of thinking of himself in terms of a single unit. He was part of a team and as such never stepped outside the safe confines of the organisation. 'It means I've indirectly been offered a very large amount of money — if I deliver the goods.'

He looked surprised. 'Bribery — eh?'

'Well, shall we say, inducement,' I amended. I suddenly had an impish desire to shake his indifference. 'Any idea of the money involved in this metal business if it's big enough, as this may be?'

'None whatever, old boy,' he answered without interest.

I said, 'It could mean a few millions for somebody who handled it right.'

He laughed. 'It's no good talking to me about millions. My pay is about fifteen hundred a year. Oh, I realise that you really meant millions. But I just wouldn't know what to do with that sort of money if I had it. Nor would you,' he added. 'Here you are with a fine boat, the freedom of the seas and a reasonable amount of money. A few millions would just complicate your life.'