The Stainless Steel Rat for President

"The next step then must be a major effort to find out more about the satellites..." "Already done," Angelina said brightly. "There is a company named Radiodifundir SA that is located at the spaceport near Puerto Azul. They service the communication and weather satellites for the government. They are a small com142 ' The Stainless Steel Rat for President pany, so small that all of their work is done by a single and ancient spacetug that has been modified for satellite work." Warm smiles greeted this bit of information, and we all beamed enthusiastically at one another. Being of the same mind and possessed by the same idea. I expressed the thought that was on all our lips.

"It couldn't be that this is the only ship on this planet that can do this kind of work?" "Not only could it be-it certainly is! If this ship, the Populacho, was out of action it would be some months at least before another could be found, modified and brought here." I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. "The next step is painfully clear. Relay units . must be constructed, designed for installation on each satellite. They must be self-powered and will operate when they receive our coded signal. In that manner we can give all the listeners and viewers an unbiased view of the news every day. The ship, the Populacho, must be pressed into our service to enable us to install the devices. After which it must be rendered, shall we say, 'unfit' for awhile. At least until the election is over. Can anyone fault this plan?" "I can't," Angelina said. "But I have one additional suggestion. We are fighting this election in the name of democracy so we must begin acting by the democratic rules we profess to believe in. We must not repeat what we did tonight, cancelling their news program and substituting our own. Democracy means free speech. We must allow them to broadcast, then follow with our own news. The public must be given a choice. People must be allowed to make their own minds up." "Is that wise?" I asked. "Can they be trusted?" "Yes, it is wise, my dear husband, though you might not think so. Your personal beliefs fall somewhere between fascism and anarchy. Of the two I favor the anarchy. But given a wider choice I would settle for democracy. All in favor?" The boys raised their hands and I scowled.

"The ayes have it. We will now plan to commit a crime in the name of the greater good of democracy. " "Who's the fascist-anarchist now?" I growled.

"Not us," Angelina smiled in sweet answer. "We're just pragmatists. Our hearts are pure and our motives of the best. And the results of our actions will be for the greater good of all." TL." C1I:""l^rrr c". ~i n-i. r r• i iii~ Jltiiiiicaa JICCI i\[ii lur rreiilueni \tj "Say that to the owners of the Populacho," I snarled, "when they find their spaceship at the bottom of a smoking crater. " But she was unflappable. "They will get recompense from their insurers and buy a new and better ship. Isn't that what you always say?" There was of course no answer to that other than to bite savagely into a piece of toast. But even as I chewed I smiled. "You are a fine crew and I cannot argue with you. Now let us extremely honest, democratic republicans, staunch upholders of law and order, begin planning our crime of spaceship nlcfrltrior

Chapter 26

"How does it look?" I said, leaning out of the car window and calling up to Bolivar who sat on the roof above me with the high-power binoculars. •" "They're sealing the loading hatch now, so they should be ready for takeoff soon. Wait-yes-one of the crew has just come down and disconnected the power leads, which means that the ship is on internal power. The ground crew is driving away. " "Perfect. Get into the car and we go into action." He hit the pavement and bounced into the front seat. Bolivar put the car into motion the instant the door was closed. I sat in the back and admired Angelina, sitting at my side, clearly visible as soon as we had pulled out of the darkness of the hangar into the glare of the spaceport lights.