Hinrik Fonshliezen backed up a step to remove his nose from the vicinity of the finger. "Don't try to bully me, Hale," he said. But there was a slight waver in his voice.
"Fair enough. I don't bully you, you don't bully me.
"And don't call me your confederate," added Fonshliezen, somewhat encouraged by Hale's manner.
"I'm damned if I'll call you a comrade-in-arms," said Hale. "Would 'assistant' suit you better?"
Fonshliezen reddened. "One of these days you'll push me too far, Hale!"
"When I do, you'll fall," said Hale, in a voice like chilled steel. "You and I have made a deal. I get that Dachboden for you, and you pay me half a million stellors. That's all there is to it."
The Portfolio of State was not a man to be pushed around easily, but he also had sense enough to know when he was up against a stronger opponent than himself.
Shortly after the original announcement about the time capsule had come from Grosstat, Leland Hale had come to Fonshliezen to offer his services. If Hale stole the Dachboden original, and gave it to Hinrik Fonshliezen, then Sudapfahl could steal the glory from its northern neighbor by claiming that a second capsule had been found. When the northern capsule was discovered to have no statue in it, the pride of Nordapfahl would suffer a serious blow.
But now Fonshliezen was worried.
"But how can you get it now?" he asked. "The planet is full of Interstellar Police agents; the time capsule is tightly guarded. If only the secret of Dr. Dale's identity hadn't leaked out!"