The K-Factor | Page 7

nodded.
"Too slow." Costa withered the idea with his voice. "Fine in the long
run, but of absolutely no value in an emergency." He began to pace
back and forth. Too quickly. It was more of a bubbling-over than a
relaxation. "Can't you isolate some recent key events that can be
reversed?"
"It's possible." Neel thought about it, quickly. "It wouldn't be a final
answer, just a delaying action."
"That's good enough. Tell me what to do."
Neel flipped through his books of notes, checking off the Beta-13's.
These were the reinforcers, the individuals and groups who were
k-factor amplifiers. It was a long list which he cut down quickly by
crossing off the low increment additions and multiple groups. Even
while the list was incomplete, Neel began to notice a pattern. It was an
unlikely one, but it was there. He isolated the motivator and did a
frequency check. Then sat back and whistled softly.
"We have a powerhouse here," he said, flipping the paper across the
table. "Take this organization out of the equations and you might even

knock us negative."
"Society for the Protection of the Native Born," Costa read. "Doesn't
sound like very important. Who or what are they?"
"Proof positive of the law of averages. It's possible to be dealt a royal
flush in a hand of cards, but it isn't very common. It's just as possible
for a bunch of simpletons to set up an organization for one purpose, and
have it turn out to be a supercharged, high-frequency k-factor amplifier.
That's what's happened with this infernal S.P.N.B. A seedy little social
club, dedicated to jingoists with low I.Q.'s. With the war scare they
have managed to get hold of a few credits. They have probably been
telling the same inflated stories for years about the discrimination
against natives of this fair planet, but no one has really cared. Now they
have a chance to get their news releases and faked pix out in quantity.
Just at a time when the public is ripe for their brand of nonsense.
Putting this bunch out of business will be a good day's work."
"Won't there be repercussions?" Costa asked. "If they are this important
and throw so much weight around--won't it look suspicious if they are
suddenly shut up. Like an obvious move by the enemy?"
"Not at all. That might be true if, for instance, you blew up the
headquarters of the War Party. It would certainly be taken as an
aggressive move. But no one really knows or cares about this Society
of the Half-baked Native Born. There might be reaction and interest if
attention was drawn to them. But if some accident or act of nature were
to put them out of business, that would be the end of it."
Costa was snapping his lighter on and off as he listened to Neel, staring
at the flame. He closed it and held it up. "I believe in accidents. I
believe that even in our fireproof age, fires still occur. Buildings still
burn down. And if a burnt building just happened to be occupied by the
S.P.N.B.--just one tenant of many--and their offices and records were
destroyed; that would be of very little interest to anyone except the fire
brigade."
"You're a born criminal," Neel told him. "I'm glad we're on the same

side. That's your department and I leave it to you. I'll just listen for the
news flashes. Meanwhile I have one little errand to take care of."
The words stopped Costa, who was almost out the door. He turned
stiffly to look at Neel putting papers into an envelope. Yet Costa spoke
naturally, letting none of his feelings through into his voice.
"Where are you going?"
"To see Hengly, the planetary operator here. Abravanel told me to stay
away from him, to run an entirely new basic survey. Well we've done
that now, and pinpointed some of the trouble areas as well. I can stop
feeling guilty about poaching another man's territory and let him know
what's going on."
"No. Stay away from Hengly," Costa said. "The last thing in the world
we want to do, is to be seen near him. There's a chance that he ... well ...
might be compromised."
"What do you mean!" Neel snapped. "Hengly's a friend of mine, a
graduate--"
"He might also be surrounded ten deep by the secret police. Did you
stop to think about that?"
Neel hadn't thought about it, and his anger vanished when he did. Costa
drove the point home.
"Societics has been a well kept secret for over two centuries. It may
still be a secret--or bits of it might have leaked out. And even if the
Himmelians know nothing about Societics, they have certainly heard of
espionage. They know the