“I have had to do all the planning myself and I do have other matters to think about. You will take over his team of robots. Robbery robots, specially designed for this single purpose.”

“It won’t work. Robots must obey the Laws of Robotics. They cannot harm man, lie, steal, commit sexual or immoral acts…”

“Try not to be so tiresome, Jim. I am not talking about intelligent robots. I am talking about brainless machines that have been carefully programmed. Go with Igor. He has the plans and instructions for your first assignment. The first thing that you will do is to complete the operation where my own bank was broken into.”

Things were beginning to fall into place. “You robbed your own bank?”

“Of course. By that simple act I removed myself from the list of suspects from any fixture bank robberies.”

A lot more mental pieces slid into their sockets. “Then, let me guess, you had Bolivar framed for the theft?” He nodded happily. “Which led you even closer to me until—pow!—you pointed me out as the criminal-record and all! You didn’t get me to this planet to stop robbing banks-I’m here to do the direct opposite!”

I jumped for him and he touched the holoscreen and Angelina’s image appeared before me. I lowered my clutching hands and tried not to froth too much. And the more I thought about it-the more I realized how I had been conned. He nodded cheerful agreement to my sudden realizations.

“It was your avarice that was your undoing,” he said, rolling Paka aside with his foot and seating himself in the unconscious man’s chair. “As I planned, you could see only the four million a day. That golden dazzle overcame every suspicion you had, led you by the nose into my trap. Any reasonable man would have got out before the trap closed. But no, not you. Not the Stainless Steel Rat who walks alone! I counted upon your monstrous ego to keep you going to the bitter end. Am I not correct?”

Well, deep down, I suppose he was. Though I did not like that Monstrous Ego crapola. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of having me agree with him. I pulled over a metal folding chair and sat down. Relaxed. Buffed my fingernails on my shirt and admired their shine.

“Chaise, old thief, did it ever occur to you that I was on to you, and just leading you down the path?”

He shook his head. “No, that is not possible. You are now on the run, sought by all of the various kinds of police on this over-policed planet. You know that I have a hostage that will ensure your complete cooperation. And-“ He smiled widely as he inserted one final knife into my deflated ego, gave it a twist as well. “And I have been keeping careful track of your pathetic monetary maneuvers. Thinking that you were outwitting the man who is the master of money laundering and interbank transfers. The only element of originality in the entire process was starting your own bank to conceal my millions. And even that wasn’t your own idea, was it? Bolivar came up with it. I was happy to employ such an original thinker in my own bank here. Even happier to turn him over to the police for his foolishness in trying to outdo me.”

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about,” I said bravely. To disguise the sinking feeling that I knew very well what he was talking about. That smirk again, my fists closed, what a pleasure it would be to wipe it off his face! Relax Jim, I opened my fists and leaned back. If I lost my temper he would win.

“Those millions I paid you, the golden goad that kept you going. They are gone from your bank and returned to mine once more. What do you think of that?”

“I think we had better change the subject before you get yourself overexcited and burst a blood vessel. We were talking about lies. I respect you for that, if nothing else, for you are a master liar. The more I think about it the more I begin to think that probably everything you have told me since we met was a lie. You only wanted me on Fetorr as a cover for your robberies. To be the one and only suspect in what I am sure is to be a spectacular series of future bank thefts. The profits of which will go to you!”

He smiled and took a small bow. “One must have a certain imagination to get rich in this competitive galaxy. And Fetorr is the perfect place for this particular operation. Corrupt police, greedy capitalists, nonexistent income-tax laws. It is positively a license to print money.”

I fought even harder now to control my anger: if ever a cool head was needed it was at this moment. There had to be an end to the approaching series of bank robberies-then what? “So I run the operation for you. What then? After the last robbery-what happens?”

“That is completely up to you, my dear friend. If you are captured there is a great deal that you could reveal about my operations. The Fetorr police are well versed in techniques for extracting information from even the most reluctant witness. You probably would not be believed, but it could be an embarrassment to me if you were. So you must not allow yourself to be captured. I have carefully examined your criminal record-which is why I decided to employ you. You are very good at this sort of thing. I suppose that with a great deal of effort you might be able to escape, flee this planet, go into hiding when your employment is finished. In fact that that is just what I suggest you do. Out of sheer generosity I will help you escape to a very distant planet. Where your wife will join you. I am sure that there will be no temptations for you to ever return to Fetorr.”

“And what do I get out of all this?”

“Isn’t your freedom enough?” The humor was suddenly gone and I had a quick glimpse of the creature that Chaise really was. “Freedom, restored to the bosom of your family once again. I would say that that would be a fair trade in exchange for your services rendered.”

That was it. And there was nothing I could do about it. Now. But other ears than mine had heard us talking. The wall was thin, the inside doors flimsy. Bolivar must have heard every word spoken here. He would know that I could take care of myself, know at the same that he had to follow Chaise, run him to ground—and find out where Angelina was being kept. If her freedom were secured then Kaia’s plans were instantly worthless. Which meant that all I could do was mark time, do as I was told. And find a way to open some lines of communication with Bolivar.

Really, I had no choice.

“When do I start?” I asked quietly, keeping all my true feelings under lock and key. For the moment.

“Excellent!” Chaise said, rubbing his hands together with pecuniary pleasure. “Igor will supply transportation, and will pass my orders on to you.” He looked out of the window at the darkening sky. “The banks are closed. My employees gone, the premises empty. Go now to the coffers of the Widows and Orphans and restore that which was temporarily taken from me.

We went. Chaise in his luxurious limousine. Igor and I in the same springless and filthy vehicle. I climbed up into the cab beside him.

“One of these days, Igor, I am going to maim and kill you. Or worse.” He emitted a sound somewhere halfway between a laugh and a grunt.

“No way. Boss got you by the short and curlies. We work now.”

We trundled steadily into Fetorrscoria, with the rush-hour traffic going in the opposite direction. No one took heed of our inconspicuous truck. Even the police turned glassy eyes away when we went by. Off the payway into the main streets, then passing the Widows and Orphans 1st Interstellar Bank, we turned into the alleyway behind it. Igor put on the brakes and we juddered to a stop. He dug into the clutter on the seat between us and produced a small recorder; hung it by a lanyard around his neck before he pressed the button that turned it on.

“Deactivate alarms by placing your hand on the plate beside the rear entrance to the bank Do it now. ”