would be able to buy commodities at a fraction ofthe present cost!"
Tracy half came to his feet and pounded the table with fierce emphasis."_What would they buy them with? They'd all be out of jobs!_"
Frederic Flowers bug-eyed him.
Tracy sat down again and seemingly regained control of himself. Hisvoice was softer now. "Our social system may have its strains andtensions, Mr. Flowers, but it works and we don't want anybody throwingwrenches in its admittedly delicate machinery. Advertising is currentlyone of the biggest industries of the country. The entertainmentindustry, admittedly now based on advertising, is gigantic. Ourmagazines and newspapers, employing hundreds of thousands of employeesfrom editors right on down to newsstand operators, are able to existonly through advertising revenue. Above all, millions of our populationare employed in the service industries, and in distribution, in thestock market, in the commodity markets, in all the other branches ofdistribution which you Freer Enterprises people want to pull down. Athird of our working force is now unemployed, but given your way, itwould be at least two thirds."
Flowers, suddenly suspicious, said, "What has all this to do with theDepartment of Internal Revenue, Mr. Tracy?"
Tracy came to his feet and smiled ruefully, albeit a bit grimly."Nothing," he admitted. "I have nothing at all to do with thatdepartment. Here is my real card, Mr. Flowers."
The Freer Enterprises man must have felt a twinge of premonition even ashe took it up, but the effect was still enough to startle him. "Bureauof Economic Subversion!" he said.
"Now then," Tracy snapped. "I want the names of your higher ups, and theaddress of your central office, Flowers. Frankly, you're in the soup. Asyou possibly know, our hush-hush department has unlimited emergencypowers, being answerable only to the President."
"I ... I've never even heard of it." Flowers stuttered. "But--"
Tracy held up a contemptuous hand. "Many people haven't," he saidcurtly.
* * * * *
Frank Tracy hurried through the outer office into LaVerne Sandell'sdomain, and bit out to her, "Tell the Chief I'm here. Crisis. Andimmediately get my team together, all eight of them. Heavy equipment.Have a jet readied. Chicago. The team will rendezvous at the airport."
LaVerne was just as crisp. "Yes, sir." She began doing things withbuttons and switches.
Tracy hurried into the Chief's office and didn't bother with the usualamenities. He snapped, "Worse than I thought, sir. This outfit ispossibly openly subversive. Deliberately undermining the economy."
His superior put down the report he was perusing and shifted his bulkbackward. "You're sure? We seldom run into such extremes."
"I know, I know, but this could be it. Possibly a deliberate program.I've taken the initiative to have Miss Sandell summon my team."
"Now, see here, Frank--" The bureau head looked at him anxiously.
Tracy said, impatience there, "Chief, you're going to have to let yourfield men use their discretion. I tell you, this thing is a potentialsnowball. I'll play it cool. Arrange things so that there'll be noscandal for the telly-reporters. But we've got to chill this onequickly, or it'll be on a coast to coast basis before the year is out.They're even talking about going into automobiles."
The Chief winced, then said unhappily, "All right, Tracy. However, mindwhat I said. Curb those roughnecks of yours."
* * *
It proved considerably easier than Frank Tracy had hoped for. AdamMoncure's national headquarters turned out to be in a sparsely settledarea not far from Woodstock, Illinois. The house, in the passe ranchstyle, must have once been a millionaire's baby, what with an artificialfishing lake in the back, a kidney shaped swimming pool, extensivegardens and an imposing approach up a corridor of trees.
"Right up to the front door," Tracy growled to the operative driving thefirst hover-car of their two-vehicle expedition. "The quicker we move,the better." He turned his head to the men in the rear seat. "We fivewill go in together. I don't expect trouble, they'll have had no advancewarning. I made sure of that. Jerry has equipment in his car to blanketany radio sending. We'll take care of phones in the house. No roughstuff, we want to talk to these people."
One of the men growled, "Suppose they start shooting?"
Tracy snorted. "Then shoot back, of course. But just don't you start it.I shouldn't have to tell you these things."
"Got it," one of the others said. He shifted his shoulders to loosen the.38 Recoilless in its holster.
At the ornate doorway, the cars, which had been moving fast, a foot orso off the ground, came to a quick halt, settled, and the men disgorged,guns in hand.
Tracy called to the occupants of the other vehicle, "On the double.Surround the house. Don't let anybody leave. Come on, boys."
They scurried down the flagstone walk, banged on the door. It was openedby a houseman who stared at them uncomprehendingly.
"The occupants of this establishment are under arrest," Tracy snapped.He flashed a gold badge. "Take me to Adam Moncure." He turned to his menand gestured with his head. "Take over, boys. Jerry, you come with me."
The houseman was terrified, but not to the point of being unable tolead them to a gigantic former living room, now converted to offices.
There was an older man, and four assistants. All in shirt sleeves inconcession to the mid-western summer, none armed from all Tracy couldsee. They looked up in surprise, rather than dismay. The older mansnapped, "What is the meaning of this intrusion?"
Jerry chuckled sourly.
Frank Tracy said, "You're all under arrest. Jerry, herd these clerks, orwhatever they are, into some other room. Get any other occupants of thehouse together, too. And watch them carefully, confound it. Don'tunderestimate these people. And make a search for secret rooms, cellars,that sort of thing."
"Right," Jerry growled.
The older of the five Freer Enterprises men was on his feet now. He wasa thin, angry faced type, gray of hair and somewhere in his sixties. "Iwant to know the meaning of this!" he roared.
"Adam Moncure?" Tracy said crisply.
"That is correct. And to what do I owe this cavalier intrusion into myhome and place of business?"
Jerry, at pistol point, was herding the four assistants from the room,taking the houseman along with them.
Tracy looked at Moncure, speculatively, then dipped into his pockets forpipe and tobacco. He gestured to a chair with his head. "Sit down, Mr.Moncure. The jig is up."
"The _jig_?" the other blurted in a fine rage. "I insist--"
"O.K., O.K., you'll get your explanation." Tracy sat down on a couchhimself and sized up the older man, even as he lit his pipe.
Moncure, still breathing heavily in his indignation, took control ofhimself well enough to be seated. "Well, sir?" he bit out.
Tracy said curtly, "Frank Tracy, Bureau of Economic Subversion."
"Bureau of Economic Subversion!" Moncure said indignantly. "What in thename of all that's holy is the Bureau of Economic Subversion?"
Tracy pointed at him with the pipe stem. "I'll ask a few questionsfirst, please. How many branches of your nefarious outfit are presentlyunder operation?"
The other glared at him, but Tracy merely returned the pipe to his mouthand glowered back.
Finally Moncure snapped, "There is no purpose in hiding any of ouraffairs. We have opened preliminary offices only in Chicago and NewYork. Freer Enterprises is but in its infancy."
"Praise Allah for that," Tracy muttered sarcastically.
"And thus far we have dealt only in soap. However, as our organizationgets under way we plan to branch out into a score, and ultimatelyhundreds of products."
Tracy said, "You can forget about that, Moncure. Freer Enterprises comesto a halt as of today. Do you realize that your business tactics wouldlead to a complete collapse of gainful employment and eventually to adepression such as this nation has never seen before?"
"Exactly!" Moncure snapped in return.
*
* *
It was Tracy's turn to react. His eyes widened, then narrowed. "Do youmean that you are deliberately attempting to undermine the economy ofthe United States of the Americas? Remember, Mr. Moncure, you are underarrest and anything you say may be held against you."
"Undermine it!" Moncure said heatedly. "Bring it crashing to the groundis the better term. There has never been such an abortion developed inthe history of political economy."
He came to his feet again and began storming up and down the room. "Afull three quarters of our employed working at nothing