They walked in silence. As they approached the core, the roar of the intermittent burners would have made conversation impossible. They continued walking until the nearest burner cut out.
"Here's your original disk and a correct copy," said Phil. "All I did was make a copy of your disk and corrupt yours."
"So what's going...?" started Michele. Phil put his finger to his lips.
"There's very little time, so please just listen. Victor has been jailed for negotiating and signing that contract of yours. But there's nothing the Council can do to change the terms, since it's countersigned by the king himself. What really infuriated the Council is the automatic renewal clause. That was his majesty's own idea."
"What is going on?" asked Michele again.
Phil continued, laughing. "I was picked for this assignment because I've been so apolitical. I really don't know what the argument at the bottom of it is all about. But I did some snooping around. You'll need the disk to cover me. When my superiors ask about my visit, don't waste time lying to them. They'd know anyway. Just show them the two disks and let them draw their own conclusions. Oh, by the way, I examined your docking coupling before seeing you and it'll work without any problem."
The near burner came on, so they walked away from it until they could hear again.
Phil continued. "Any news item you choose to print will be monitored. You're safe so long as Lunar Councilmen Kennedy and Rockefeller believe that you don't know anything."
"They're correct," said Mark. "We have no idea what's going on. But the Lord has protected us so far and He will continue to protect us."
"You sound like you really believe that," said Phil. "Well, you certainly need protection from someone in high places. Let me explain what I think's going on.
"Every colony has a limited number of natural resources. Now, the colonies can trade with each other, but most of the trading is done with Earth. And that means almost everything that we mine, make or buy comes through the original Lunar Colony. Sure, there's been some expansion, but it was so expensive that the government had to finance it. So the government owns everything. Oh, there are some real small private businesses, but the government owns everything that's important. And no one has a choice.
"The Council talks about how free we are because we can vote for anyone we want. But the only people who have any money are the ones who do everything the government tells them. And even some of them wind up like your friend Victor."
"A friend that I haven't seen for over a decade," said Michele.
"Believe me," said Phil. "He really is your best friend."
"So what can we do to help him?" asked Mark.
Phil pulled a tape recorder out of his pocket.
"Listen to this tape," said Phil. "The first voice you'll hear is Councilman Kennedy. The next man is Councilman Rockefeller. This was taped by the king in a closed meeting of the entire Council." Phil pressed a button on the player. Michele and Mark listened to the voice of Councilman Kennedy.
"These greedy balloonists are an ultra-rich aristocracy. They lack any compassion for their less fortunate fellow colonists and are attempting to exploit them by shackling them into economic slavery. This is just how the oil companies of ancient Earth treated their fellow countrymen. We must not allow these misers to repeat this shameful dark age. If we act now, before it is too late, we can protect the many who depend on us from the dreadful pit of economic slavery."
"Every moment we delay," continued the voice of Councilman Rockefeller, "the insidious poison of greed gnaws more deeply at our fellow colonists. We fled the ravages of greed-hardened Earth and her wars -- wars which fueled the unholy passions and lusts for other people's property. If we allow these same lusts and passions to be rekindled in the Imperial realms, we can expect nothing better than a repeat of the wars of history's cruelest tyrants. We will languish in the cold, passionless grip of greed. If these balloonists had paid their fair share of taxes, they would be unable to exploit their fellow colonists in this way."
"It is not too late," spoke Kennedy's voice again. "Even at this dark hour. Every minute we delay, every day we falter brings us that much closer to the bloodshed of senseless greed from which our founders in their wisdom hoped to shield us."
Phil shut off the tape and said, "Now this is just my idea. But I think that they're afraid of the hope that you've given people. You don't owe anything to the government. Take their money, because you have to, but don't sell out to them.
"You want to help Victor? Leave as soon as possible and keep going back as long as you have strength. Finance as many independents as you can."
Phil hurled both the tape and recorder into a roaring burner.
"And take your children with you. You don't want to leave any potential hostages."
Phil hugged them. "As long as you keep going, we're winning. Please, don't quit."