“But I already have,” Stevens protested. “Our intelligence network is the best in the Universe, Captain. It is superior even to your own excellent organization, as events have shown.”
“Its results are superior, that I’ll grant,” Weinbaum said glumly. “If Dana Lje had thrown your letter down her disposal chute, we would have lost the Brindisi and our Dirac transmitter both. Incidentally, did your original letter predict accurately the number of ships we would send?”
Stevens nodded pleasantly, his neatly trimmed white beard thrusting forward slightly as he smiled.
“I was afraid so,” Weinbaum leaned forward. “Do you have the Dirac transmitter, Stevens?”
“Of course, Captain. How else could my correspondents report to me with the efficiency you have observed?”
“Then why don’t our receivers pick up the broadcasts of your agents? Dr. Wald says it’s inherent in the principle that Dirac ‘casts are picked up by all instruments tuned to receive them, bar none. And at this stage of the game there are so few such broadcasts being made that we’d be almost certain to detect any that weren’t coming from our own operatives.”
“I decline to answer that question, if you’ll excuse the impoliteness,” Stevens said, his voice quavering slightly. “I am an old man, Captain, and this intelligence agency is my sole source of income. If I told you how we operated, we would no longer have any advantage over your own service, except for the limited freedom from secrecy which we have. I have been assured by competent lawyers that I have every right to operate a private investigation bureau, properly licensed, upon any scale that I may choose; and that I have the right to keep my methods secret, as the so-called ‘intellectual assets’ of my firm. If you wish to use our services, well and good. We will provide them, with absolute guarantees on all information we furnish you, for an appropriate fee.