"Miss Mikail made you a proposition?" Albert Peet's voice was tight.
"Yes," said Jaro.
"You accepted?"
"Why, no. As it happened she was abducted before I had the chance."
Mr. Peet licked his lips. "But you will, surely you will. Unless Karfial Hodes is stopped immediately there will be a bloody uprising all over the planet during the Festival of the Rains. Earth doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation."
"Then I was right; it is you who are putting up the ten thousand Earth notes."
"Not entirely," said Peet uncomfortably. "There are many of us here, Mercurians as well as Earthmen, who recognize the danger. We have—ah—pooled our resources."
"But you stand to lose most in case of a successful revolution?"
"Perhaps. I have a large interest in the Latonka trade. It is—ah—lucrative."