It was an oddly assorted group who attended Koal's party at nineteen-hundred. Of the thirteen men present, there were renegade Earthmen, outcasts of the Empire, mad dogs feared from Pluto to Mercury. Another had been a T.I.S. agent before his capture. Pepperell was the name which Koal gave when he introduced him to Norman. Pepperell was a bland-faced, heavy-set Earthman with a gullible smile and a chunk of ice for a heart. The fifth had been a corporation lawyer. His noble brow and prematurely gray hair give him the benignity of a saint, but a thief, it had been whispered about on Earth during his remarkable career, had better ethics and a hungry tiger couldn't be half so rapacious. There were three Martians, urbane, pleasant-spoken, and a Venusian. The Venusian, an ex-dictator of a small state, had been fleeing from his irate people with the treasury, when he was captured. Norman, Koal, and Acpsahme made up the thirteen. Jennifer was the only woman present.
The men were gathered in animated groups, drinking, laughing.
"Gentlemen," began Koal, "may I have your attention. What you hear tonight must be held in the strictest confidence. If any word of this meeting reaches the Dohlmites, our lives are forfeit."
Pepperell, the T.I.S. agent, raised his eyebrows, said, "What do you propose to do? Release cut worms among the plant men?"
Jennifer grinned. No one else laughed.
"Thanks," said Pepperell to the girl. "I see we both have the same low sense of humor."
"This is serious," said Koal. "Norman, will you explain your plan to these gentlemen."
For the third time Norman delivered his impassioned appeal for union. "I know," he concluded, "that we haven't any definite means of attack, but how much greater is our chance of discovering one if we work together."
"But the danger of betrayal," protested Pepperell. "The more recruits to this underground army we gain, the more chances we run of admitting a traitor. No silly oath will hold some man from running to the Dohlmites in hopes of currying favor."
"True," agreed Acpsahme grimly. "But a committee of execution should be formed. A committee whose sole duty will be to track down and kill any informer. Gentlemen, this is no seminar fraternity. If I thought any of you were proposing to betray us, I'd shoot you down without a qualm." The blue star tattooed on his forehead lent authority to his quiet words.