Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

18 paperweight jump on his desk. Outside, not five meters off, a hole opened in the ground—slowly, hugely, with all \ the time in the universe to do its work. Fire spumed from it, and magma crawled forth toward the dome. The Elgash family had come up the hard way, from the peasant stock of a conquered land; it had been ennobled only fifty years ago. For that, and for its owning the Munitions Trust, Hurulta despised it. But he did not underestimate the being who sat across from his desk. The present Elgash was fat and wheezy and dandified, but there was a hard drive and a cold brain in him. “IT speak for several others, your excellency,’’ he said. “I need not men- tion their names.” “The money barons,” replied Hu- rulta sullenly. ““The industrialists and financiers. What of it?” “Shall I speak plainly?’ asked Elgash. “Go ahead. We're alone.” “The group I represent is not at all satisfied with the conduct of the war.”’ “Oh? And you have constituted yourselves the new General Staff?” “Spare the sarcasm, your excel- lency. It was understood that Tukatan would be subjugated within six months. Now, after almost a year, we are still fighting there.” “They could be bombarded from space,” said Hurulta, “but as you well know, that would destroy the whole value of the planet. We have to go slowly. Then the Patrol appeared to complicate matters.” “I realize all that.’”? The insolence was more marked than ever. “‘And rather than concentrate on Tukatan and the Patrol, and get them safely out of the way, your ministry has tried to take on the whole star cluster. You have blundered disastrously into 99 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION planets we hardly knew a thing about.” “To keep the Patrol from using them against us.” Hurulta checked his temper. “‘All right, I admit we’ve had our troubles. But we’re making progress. The over-all timetable for the establishment of our hegemony has been accelerated enormously. In the long run, that will mean a saving.” “Will it now? Even your successes are dubious. Take that forsaken little pill of sand, Yarnaz IV. There’s been ‘no trouble in occupying it. But the expense of maintaining bases under such alien conditions is fantastic. The commoners are being taxed to the limit, and your new tax on the leading oups of society is outrageous.” “It has to be done. Or would you rather have the Patrol come in and run things?’ “Of course,’ said Elgash coldly, “‘your most inexcusable blunder was the occupation of Umung.”’ “What?” For 'a moment Hurulta could find no words. Slowly, then, he gulped down his rage, and when he spoke it was with thin precision. “That was the one operation which went off like clockwork. At a negligible cost in men and money, we have already doubled our war production. Inside another year we can expect to quadruple it.”’ \ “I thought you were a realist, your excellency,” said Elgash. “I thought you understood the economic founda- tion on which the empire rests. Or are you deliberately ruining my class?” “Are you mad? First you complain about taxes, then when I find a way to increase production, a way that costs us hardly one crown, you—”’ “Your excellency, we have only so many soldiers and there is a limit to the.amount of war matériel they can use. When Umung is producing all of it,, what will become of Ulugan’s fac- tories?” connilclbooks.conn