He added, "But first I've got to get back in the good graces of the settlers." When she smiled incredulously, he said with confidence, "It should be easy."
And besides, it was necessary.
As soon as Fayette left, he leaped out of bed and grabbed an encyclopaedia out of the bookcase. He looked up Unterzuyder, tracing down until he found the expected paragraph:
The fabulous cartels of the Unterzuyders were built up through their amazing instinct on the stock market. When the market was bullish, they seemed to know when the crest was reached. Selling short in heavy amount at this point, they reaped millions in profit as the market fell, then caught the market again on the upswing. Invariably, the bulls were caught short by the Unterzuyder bears. The Unterzuyders seemed to draw some special inspiration from one famous interpretation of their name, i. e., undersiders, those who work from the underside....
Unterzuyder sent the book scurrying into a corner. His hunch had been right. But now was not the time to work out the rest of the puzzle. He dressed quickly.
When he walked into the dining room, where dinner was in progress, he was wearing the white bandage pinned around his forehead. He was also limping very slightly. Sympathy was nonetheless lacking. Complete quiet reigned in the dining room. The settlers kept their faces turned away, or looked fixedly at their plates.
Fayette's expression alone showed sympathy. He knew his own face was fiery red.
Nonetheless, he told the settlers everything he thought necessary. (They knew it anyway.) He apologized. He pointed out deviously that, after all, they were on the way to a new world. That much he had done for them.
"What you do not realize is that it was I, your leader, who diverted Bigger Bailes from looting the ship.