“You can see some now.”  Ko-Ko and Goldilocks and Cinderella were coming out of the hall from the bedroom; he gathered them up and put them on the table.  The sergeant was fascinated.  Then he must have noticed that both Jack and Gerd were wearing their guns in the house.  His eyes narrowed slightly.

“You got problems, Jack?” he asked.

“Little ones; they may grow, though.  I have some guests here who have outstayed their welcome.  For the record, better make it that I have squatters I want evicted.  If there were a couple of blue uniforms around, maybe it might save me the price of a few cartridges.”

“I read you.  George was mentioning that you might regret inviting that gang to camp on you.”  He picked up a handphone.  “Calderon to Car Three,” he said.  “Do you read me, Three?  Well, Jack Holloway’s got a little squatter trouble.  Yeah; that’s it.  He’s ordering them off his grant, and he thinks they might try to give him an argument.  Yeah, sure, Peace Lovin’ Jack Holloway, that’s him.  Well, go chase his squatters for him, and if they give you anything about being Company big wheels, we don’t care what kind of wheels they are, just so’s they start rolling.”  He replaced the phone.  “Look for them in about an hour, Jack.”

“Why, thanks, Phil.  Drop in some evening when you can hang up your gun and stay awhile.”

He blanked the screen and began punching again.  This time he got a girl, and then the Company construction boss at Red Hill.

“Oh, hello, Jack; is Dr. Kellogg comfortable?”

“Not very.  He’s moving out this afternoon.  I wish you’d have your gang come up with those scows and get that stuff out of my back yard.”

“Well, he told us he was staying for a couple of weeks.”

“He got his mind changed for him.  He’s to be off my land by sunset.”

The Company man looked troubled.  “Jack, you haven’t been having trouble with Dr. Kellogg, have you?” he asked.  “He’s a big man with the Company.”

“That’s what he tells me.  You’ll still have to come and get that stuff, though.”

He blanked the screen.  “You know,” he said, “I think it would be no more than fair to let Kellogg in on this.  What’s his screen combination?”

Gerd supplied it, and he punched it out.  One of those tricky special Company combinations.  Kurt Borch appeared in the screen immediately.

“I want to talk to Kellogg.”

“Doctor Kellogg is very busy, at present.”

“He’s going to be a damned sight busier; this is moving day.  The whole gang of you have till eighteen hundred to get off my grant.”

Borch was shoved aside, and Kellogg appeared.  “What’s this nonsense?” he demanded angrily.

“You’re ordered to move.  You want to know why?  I can let Gerd van Riebeek talk to you; I think there are a few things he’s forgotten to call you.”

“You can’t order us out like this.  Why, you gave us permission—­”