The Chief whistled softly.
“You mean change-shift time! Which one?”
“The first one possible,” said Mike briefly. “After every shift, things will get tighter. So my guess is the next shift, if they can. And if one gang starts something, the others will have to jump right in. You see?”
That made sense. One attempt at actual violence, defeated, would create a rigidity of defense that would make others impossible. If a successful attempt at violent sabotage was to be made, the efforts of all groups would have to be timed to the first, or abandoned.
“I could—uh—set up a sort of smoke screen,” said Mike. “We’ll fake we’re going to smash something—and let those saboteurs find it out. They’ll see it as a chance to do their stuff with us to run interference for them.—Sally, does your father sure-enough trust us?”
Sally nodded.
“He doesn’t talk very cordially, but he trusts you.”
“Okay,” said Mike. “You tell him, private, that I’m setting up something tricky. He can laugh off anything his security guys report that I’m mixed up in. Joe’ll see that he gets the whole picture beforehand. But he ain’t to tell anybody—not anybody—that something is getting framed up. Right?”
“I’ll ask him,” said Sally. “He is pretty desperate. He’s sure some last-minute frantic assault on the Platform will be made. But——”