Randall Garrett

“ Tracing the path of a human being over a million parsecs of space and a half century of time isn't easy, even when the subject makes no effort to conceal his route or confuse his contemporaries. The difficulty increases by a factor of at least ten when the subject is a wily, clever, and thoroughly ruthless scoundrel like Leland Hale. If it was difficult for the Interstellar Police to track down Hale a century ago, it is easy to see why it would be almost impossible today. ”

“ Which school of thought one follows seems to be entirely dependent on whether one is an inhabitant of the planet or has merely visited there.
Leland Hale was, perhaps, an exception to that rule; the first time he saw it, hanging in the blackness a couple of hundred thousand miles out of the forward plate of his expensive private ship, the planet looked very much like an apple—ripe and ready for plucking. Naturally.
Now, about all the average galactic citizen knows about Apfahl these days is that it was the birthplace of Dachboden ”

“ A louse he may be, but I never underestimate an opponent; he's smart and he's got guts. And he's got pride. And that's what will catch him."
"I'm afraid I don't understand you," said Dr. Mier.
Whitter glanced down at the director. "Your time capsule seems to have aroused quite a bit of interest in certain parts of the galaxy, Dr. Mier. That Dachboden carving, especially, has made news on the older worlds—even on Earth, I understand. And now that it is known that Leland Hale has practically announced that he wants that Dachboden, the news services will be watching to see if he gets it." ”

“ You will demand a troop of I.P. men to guard your own capsule, too. You will issue a statement saying that all national differences must be submerged in order to capture Leland Hale. And, in the end, you will have the carving, and Nordapfahl will not—which will prove that Sudapfahlians are better guards than the northerners."
Hinrik Fonshliezen nodded slowly, and a faint smile crossed his pointed face. "I see. Yes—I see. Very clever, Mr. Hale, very clever." Then the smile vanished again. "But I don't see how you're going to get at the capsule with that guard around it." ”

“ Mentally, he was brilliant; morally, he had one philosophy—"Leland Hale deserves to own the galaxy." He knew the goal was unobtainable, but he worked steadily at it.
What he wanted, he took, and if it wasn't available, he took the next best thing—all of which brings us around to the peculiar incident on the planet Apfahl.
A century ago, Apfahl was just one of those little backwater planets that cluttered the fringes of the main streams of galactic trade. During the early colonization of the planet, the great southern continent was the only section of the new world that seemed worth colonizing. ”

“ Folk legend has a tendency to make heroes of even the vilest of villains, provided they are colorful enough, and no amount of fact ever quite smothers the romantic legend. Such mythical or semi-mythical characters as Robin Hood, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, John Dillinger, Captain Hamling Fox III, and Hilary Boone were all rascals to the core, but even today they have their practicing cults. But the cultus peculiar to Leland Hale seems to outshine them all, and for the singularly perverse reason that he was worse than all the rest rolled together. ”

“ Hale shook his head slowly. "You just aren't very bright, Hinrik. Not bright at all. See here; what would have happened if my name had never come into this at all?"
"I should think—"
"I agree. You should. But you don't." ”

“ When they were near the planet, the Belvedere stopped, and Dr. Dale went aboard the flitter with the pilot.
Dr. Dale, the art expert, had a full, graying beard that covered half his face, and a large shock of graying hair. He might have been a muscular man, but the cut of his clothes made his six and a half feet of body seem fat and clumsy. He gave the impression of a man who could neither fight nor run, but who depended on superior pomposity to stare down his opponents.
The flitter pilot strapped himself down and said: "Not much money on Apfahl. Still, I hear there's something stirring." ”

“ Someone says: "R. Philipp Dachboden, the Painter of Apfahl," and everyone nods knowingly. But it would be worth your while to give five-to-one odds against any given person being able to tell you what sector it's in. And, actually, that's as it should be; aside from the fact that R. Philipp Dachboden was born there, Apfahl has no claim whatever to galactic prominence.
But it almost did. If it hadn't been for Leland Hale—
In order to understand exactly what happened, we'll have to look over our cast of main characters. ”

“ Each age should take pains to be sure that the ensuing age does not lose its heritage."
"Of course." Hale honestly didn't see why it should—if Hale could ever be said to do anything honestly. Anything worth preserving was not the sort of junk that was usually put in a time capsule. Oh, well—
"The capsule is of the standard type," Mier continued. "Hermetically sealed, with a tamper-proof time lock activated by a radio-decay clock. It's set to open at ——" He rattled off a string of numbers, and then went on to explain the Apfahlian calendar, winding it up with: "Our calendar is very scientific." ”

“ Dale for over an hour! He can't be a thief."
"Possibly not," agreed Lieutenant-Marshal Dilon. "The Interstellar Police aren't always right, and I must say I don't care for their high-handed manner at times. Nevertheless, we'll have to take proper precautions. I'll see that the guard around the Museum is reinforced, and send out a pickup order on Dr. Dale. If there's been any mistake made, it will be the fault of the I.P. Meanwhile, I would appreciate it Doctor, if you would come to my office. We've got to make better arrangements for the protection of the time capsule." ”

“ Allen H. Dale. Leland Hale was never one to be caught napping; he was never one to be caught at all.
Naturally, a planet-wide alarm went out. Even Sudapfahl, warned that the "arch-criminal" might attempt to steal the contents of their own time capsule, sent out word to all local police forces to be on the alert. ”

“ Shortly after the original announcement about the time capsule had come from Grosstat, Leland Hale had come to Fonshliezen to offer his services. If Hale stole the Dachboden original, and gave it to Hinrik Fonshliezen, then Sudapfahl could steal the glory from its northern neighbor by claiming that a second capsule had been found. When the northern capsule was discovered to have no statue in it, the pride of Nordapfahl would suffer a serious blow.
But now Fonshliezen was worried.
"But how can you get it now?" he asked. "The planet is full of Interstellar Police agents ”

“ However, that kind of equipment isn't available to the average man here on Apfahl. And besides, it is thoroughly guarded. After we dug it up from the basement, our government provided the Museum with a full battalion of armed troops to surround the building day and night. No unauthorized person can get in, and they certainly couldn't get the time capsule out. ”