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have been sniping at me from the safety of your wretched column for years."
Thorley puffed visibly with indignity and marched up to the podium, carrying his briefcase. "Since you
have seen fit to fling the gauntlet at my veracity, sir, I must advise you that in this valise I carry
complete refutation to all your foolishly liberal postures."
And more than that, I thought. "Well, Sir Conservative, let's see you refute this: my position on tax
reform. Do you oppose elimination of the nefarious loopholes that favor the rich?"
"Allow me to bring forth my armament," Thorley said, lifting his briefcase and twiddling with the latch.
My guard, now right next to him, seemed amused by this development; obviously this display of pique
would not establish me as a presidential candidate. "A moment, if you please; it seems to have jammed."
"The way all your positions jam when challenged!" I retorted, and a ripple of mirth traveled through the
audience. It was not that they were taking sides; they were merely enjoying the repartee, as they might
the sight of two pugilists scoring on each other.
Thorley grimaced. "If you believe yourself to be so clever, perhaps you can operate the latch more
effectively than I can," he muttered.
"Certainly I can, you conservative incompetent," I agreed, taking the briefcase from him. I put my
fingers to the fastening and felt a jolt of pain.
But the guard had not done it. His hands were out of his pockets as he followed the mock quarrel. The
latch had done it.
It was the control to the pain-box tuner inside the briefcase. I adjusted it the other way, and the pain
abated. Now it was damping out the pain-box.
I damped it down to zero. Then I reached across, casually, and placed my hand on the back of the
guard's neck. Suddenly my fingers dug into a nerve. I gave him a moment to operate the pain-box in his
pocket and realize that it was no longer operative; then I increased my pressure while still arguing with
Thorley, letting the guard know that the control had changed over. When I was sure he understood, I
released my grip. He stood unmoving; he knew it was the price of his health.
I handed the briefcase back to Thorley. "It will open now, Journalist," I said. Of course, the case was not
intended for opening; it contained no papers, merely the damper.
"Upon reconsideration, I believe I can do this barehanded," Thorley said, setting down the briefcase.
The audience was not aware of the true nature of our interaction. "As I understand your position on
taxes, it is to play Robin Hood to our society, taking from the affluent and redistributing the wealth
among the poor. Now the fallacy of penalizing our most productive element while rewarding indolence
is "
"On the contrary," I broke in, "I subscribe to the so-called flat tax."
Thorley paused, genuinely surprised. "You do?"
"Actually, I suspect that taxation itself may be a form of theft from the population," I said. "I would like
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to find some other way to raise money for government operations. One of my first acts as president will
be to seek some feasible way to reduce or abolish taxation entirely."
There was a kind of collective gasp from the audience. These were seasoned journalists, seldom
surprised, but I had just lobbed a bombshell. No candidate spoke like that!
"If you can do that," Thorley said slowly, "you will prove yourself to be a magician." He shook his head
and laid a small sheet of paper on my podium. "I have changed my mind, Candidate. I don't believe I am
ready to debate you at this juncture. I prefer to hear first what other changes your position may have
undergone." He returned slowly to his place.
While the cameras followed Thorley, I read the paper. It was another bombshell: "One week past,
Tocsin broke relations with Ganymede on suspicious pretext. Candidate cannot afford to ignore issue."
A virtual election-eve ploy, and I had been told nothing of it! My planned speech did indeed ignore it
and left me a patsy for a pointed question. I had to address this issue, for I had been the first ambassador
there. Even if I had revised my speech extemporaneously to cause it to make sense, this trap would have
caught me. I almost had to admire this aspect of Tocsin's cunning.
I thought fast and decided on an approach. "I know you are waiting for me to address the issue of the
hour. As you know, I was at one time Jupiter's ambassador to Ganymede. Naturally I regret what has
happened. But before I commit myself, I would like to be sure I have the facts." I glanced directly at the
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