Suddenly, Fred jumped. He charged at Walton blindly, head down.
In the same motion, Walton signaled for Keeler and his men to break in, and met Fred's charge. He caught his brother in midstride with a swinging punch that sent his head cracking back sharply.
Fred's face twisted and writhed, more in astonishment than pain. He stepped back, rubbing his chin. "You've changed," he said. "This job's made you tough. A year ago you would never have done this to me."
Walton shrugged. "Look behind you, Fred. And this time you can trust me."
Fred turned warily. Keeler and two other gray-clad security men stood there.
"Drug him and take him away," Walton said. "Have him held in custody until I notify Martinez."
Fred's eyes widened. "You're a _dictator_!" he said hoarsely. "You just move people around like chessmen, Roy. Like chessmen."
Keeler stepped forward, a tiny hypodermic spray cupped in his hand. He activated it with a twitch of his thumb and touched it to Fred's forearm. A momentary hum droned in the office as the vibrating spray forced the drug into Fred's arm.
He slumped like an empty sack. "Pick him up," Keeler ordered. "Take him and let's get going."
The story broke in the 1300 edition of _Citizen_, and from the general tone of the piece Walton could see the fine hand of Lee Percy at work.
After the usual string of subheads, all in the cheerful, breezy, barely literate _Citizen_ style, came the body of the story:
_A guy tried to bump Popeek top number Roy Walton today. Security men got there in time to keep Walton from getting the same finisher as dead Popeek boss FitzMaugham got last week._
_Walton says he's all right; the assassin didn't even come close. He also told our man that he expects good news on the New Earth bit soon. We like the sound of those words. Popeek may be with the stream after all. Who knows?_
The voice was that of _Citizen_, but the man behind the voice was thinking a little differently. Had the previous editors of _Citizen_ been handling the break, the prevailing tone would most likely have been too-bad-he-missed.
Walton called Percy after the edition came out. "Nice job you did on our first _Citizen_," he said approvingly. "It's just what I want: same illiterate style, but a slow swerving of editorial slant until it's completely pro-Popeek."