Deeming it unjust that only the farms of the Elders should have the new growth hormone, Norvis, with the aid of a priest-hating old sea captain named DEL peFenn VYLESS, secretly made the hormone and distributed it to farmers all over Nidor.
The result was an economic collapse that took fourteen years to straighten out. The carefully-balanced economy was destroyed by a sudden doubling of the food supply, and Nidor fell into the Great Depression. Del and Norvis formed the Merchants' Party, and by applying pressure on the Council of Elders they managed to restore Nidor's balance to a certain extent.
Once confusion is halted, the Party finds itself in difficulties. The Nidorians, too used to stability, are moving away from Del's rabid anti-priesthood stand and back to support of the Elders and the Earthmen. Norvis is still anxious to drive the Earthmen from Nidor and return to the Way of the Ancestors that had worked so well before their arrival.
The leaders of the Party come together to work out a plan. Aside from Del and Norvis, they are: KRIS peKYM YORGEN, the Party's strong man, a tall, broad-shouldered, handsome young man, who had been reared by Norvis and who shared the older man's burning hatred for the Earthmen; MARJA geDEL VYLESS, daughter of Del, a determined girl of keen intelligence; and GANZ peDEL VYLESS, Del's only son.
The conspirators seek something which will result in a panic that can be blamed on the Earthmen. Marja suggests the appallingly bold stroke of robbing the Bank of the Province of Dimay and accusing the Earthmen of the theft. Norvis and the others —without the knowledge of the absent Del—approve, and Kris peKym goes to Tammulcor, where he robs the unguarded bank with ridiculous ease.
He caches the haul—some eight million weights in cobalt—-on the offshore Bronze Islands, and returns to the Vashcor headquarters of the Party, where he learns that the entire province is in an uproar. With the metal backing for its paper money gone, Dimay's scrip is worthless— and Elder Grandfather Kiv peGanz Brajjyd, head of the Council, has refused to replace the cobalt. Grandfather Kiv's action was motivated by an anonymous note—actually sent by Norvis, who is, unknown to anyone, Kiv's grandson—which informed him that if he replaced the cobalt, the thieves would dump their holdings, thus reducing the value of money all over Nidor.
Kris peKym now returns to Tammulcor, accompanied by his devoted First Officer, a Bronze Islander named DRAN peDRAN GORMEK. Kris sets up an office and gains control over the sympathies of the people of Tammulcor by offering to redeem their worthless paper money with half as much good money of the Bank of Pelvash. The Party's purpose in this has merely been to win popular support again in Tammulcor—but Kris, acting on his own, proceeds to lay the groundwork for a private project of his own, the destruction of the Earthmen. He is fearful of Del's opposition—but, just as he begins to explain his plan to a group of interested merchants, Norvis arrives from Vashcor with the news of Del's assassination.
This leaves Kris with a free hand, and he immediately assumes control of the Merchants' Party and begins his planning in earnest. Marja and Ganz peDel, who had come with Norvis, form the nucleus of a new party command. Dran peDran, aided by BOR pePRANNT HEBYLLA, a longshoreman who had once attempted to rob Kris and had been helped by the very man he intended to rob, begins to train men. Nidor's first army is assembled.
Marja begins to work on the women of Nidor, convincing them that the Earthmen are demons by spreading rumors that they represent the Outer Darkness instead of the Great Light. Rumors are also spread that the Earthmen have hidden the missing cobalt on the campus of their School.
Kris himself has already taken care of that rumor by taking his ship up the Tammul River and actually planting the cobalt in a shallow grave on the School's property.
The rumor about the cobalt filters through to the Elders, and two priests, Grandfather MARN peFULDA BRAJJYD, Priest-Mayor of Vashcor, and Grandfather BOR peDEL SESOM, Priest-Mayor of Tammulcor, come to Kris, telling him that they are in agreement with Kris' plan to get rid of the Earthmen. They inform him that the Council, aware of the rumors about the cobalt, plans to question the Earthman, Smith, in a public hearing.
With a hundred armed men, Kris goes to Gelusar to attend the hearing —and, to everyone's astonishment and consternation, the bearded Earthman refuses to admit either the truth or the falsity of the rumor.
Kris takes immediate advantage of the situation, inflaming the crowd by telling them that he can lead them to the cobalt. He spurs a mob on to Bel-rogas, five miles away, and digs up the coins he has planted. The angry mob kills the students and priests and burns the School to the ground. The Earthmen escape by floating off into the sky, surrounded by shining blue auras.
Kris brings the cobalt back to the Square of Holy Light in front of the Great Temple of Gelusar, and dramatically hands the money to the Elders to return it to the Bank of Dimay. Now that the coin has been replaced, Dimay scrip is again worth full face value—thus doubling the Party's reserves, since they had bought up large quantities of the then worthless paper at half price.
Kris is hailed as a hero by the Nidorians. Norvis, Ganz, and Marja come up from Tammulcor to consolidate their position. Victory is seemingly in their grasp; with the Earthmen driven off and the people solidly behind the Party, Norvis and Kris are jubilant. Kris is able to relax for a few moments. He spends some time with Marja, discovering that hasn't been paying as much attention to the girl as she merits.
But before the moment of triumph is barely begun, Kris is summoned by the Council of Elders. They request that he come to the Square of Holy Light to receive his reward.
He arrives at the Square in fulldress uniform, accompanied by his Hundred Men. But when Elder Grandfather Kiv peGanz begins to speak, the words are not what Kris expects.
"We have," the Grandfather says, "absolute proof that you were responsible for the burial of the money on the campus of the School. You have committed the foulest crime that has ever been done on Nidor. Therefore, I order your arrest on charges of sacrilege, blasphemy, murder, and high treason!"
Kris sees that he has been trapped. The acolytes and Peacemen who surround the Square are armed with rifles.
"We have you, Kris peKym," the Elder Grandfather says. "Surrender, or I'll have you cut down like a peych-bean at harvest time!"
Chapter XV
"This place isn't fit for broken-down deests!" Kris, roared furiously, banging on the door of the cell. No one answered. He listened to the echoing of his voice for a moment, scowled, and kicked the door angrily. "Guard! Guard!"
Again no answer. Kris turned away and dropped miserably on the hard bench running along one side of the cell. "Great Light give me patience," he muttered.