Things began to make sense. In this maze of mystery I detected the fine touch of Otto Steichner. So I sought him in the armed citadel he called his gubernatorial White House. I put the question to him bluntly ... which does not necessarily mean "boldly," because to tell the truth my knees were shaking like a bowl of unchilled jello when I marched into his guarded study.
"Land?" repeated Steichner, "Land, Mr. Donovan? I'm afraid there is no property for sale on Iris. You see, everything here is owned by the government. Private individuals cannot buy or sell land."
I said, "But only five days ago we bought a piece of property from an Irisian named Tswrrrl. At the time, he mentioned that he had other properties for sale. But now I cannot seem to find him—"
"Tswrrrl? Tswrrrl? Ah, yes—" said the governor thoughtfully—"Tswrrrl! I remember now. An unfortunate incident. So careless of Tswrrrl. He was killed in an—er—accident a few days ago. Just the day before the Irisian government passed the new law forbidding the further sale of private properties, you know—"
"In other words," I said, "your bunch of thugs did him in? Is that it, Steichner?"
Steichner said silkily, "You do us an injustice, Mr. Donovan. We who control the government of Iris operate within the law at all times. That is why we find no need of allowing the Space Patrol within our sphere. Now, if you will excuse me? I am very busy—"
"In short," I said, "you don't intend to let us buy any more land. Is that it?"
"In short," replied Steichner, dropping his pretenses for a moment and giving me a stare which would have curdled a bottle of cream, "no! You have been given every legal opportunity, Mr. Donovan. You have been here on Iris exactly five and one half Solar Constant days. If, within ten days after your arrival, you have not demonstrated your ability to produce a commercial commodity heretofore undeveloped on this planet, you will be asked to leave."
I rose. "O.Q., Steichner," I told him grimly. "You hold the chips, now. But let me tell you this—if we do find what we're looking for, and gain the right to remain on Iris, our first move will be to call in the Space Patrol to protect our property. And you know what that means. It means the end of you and your gang ... the end of your use of Iris as a base for marauding expeditions.