"Darned if I know. It took a whole cruiser class to carry the junk
that makes it tick. It's piled in with twine and baling wire, and when
the crate took off the advanced techs were still connecting cables and
adjusting the guts. Er--how're you feeling?"
"Tired and frustrated."
"Mind a bad joke?"
"Well--"
"Go on and have a laugh, Wilson. This gizmo reminded me of the new
machine that made shoes so fast that it put twelve shoemakers out of
work--and it took only eighteen men to run it."
A silence ensued. Then Stone said:
"Well, Wilson, I thought you'd like to know we're pouring the best
we've got into space for you. Ship should be along in another hour or
two."
"Yeah--thanks, Admiral Stone. And the joke was funny, at least the
first time I heard it, it was. I'll get on the cubes and wait for the
ship."
Wearily Commodore Ted Wilson climbed out of his bunk and began to
dress....
* * * * *
Viggon Sarri said, "Now we know more about this race. They definitely
are of the class where the individual is of extreme importance to
the whole. This belies both the communal, or insect type and the
anarchistic, or individualistic type. The quantity of men and machinery
they are pouring into this search is amazing."
"They aren't much closer to success," offered Regin Naylo. "And we're
wasting time."
"You think so?"
"We both think so," Faren Twill said firmly.
"Oh?" Viggon Sarri looked at them in surprise. "Then maybe I have the
wrong idea. Let me hear your suggestions."
Twill and Naylo looked at one another, fencing with their eyes. Finally
Twill nodded and said, "You say it, Regin."
"It's already been said." Regin Naylo looked pointedly at Linus Brein.
"A day or so ago you claimed that you'd picked up some primitive
infrawave emission that looked as though someone might be trying to
develop a detecting and ranging device."
"Yes."
"Then it is my contention that any moves we make against this race
should be made before anybody down there gets such a detector and
ranger working."
"Why?" demanded Viggon Sarri.
Regin Naylo looked at his commander. "We're losing a technical
advantage. Whether we go in with a benign and peaceful-looking air and
show them how big and fast we are, or whether we plunge in and hit 'em
with every battery we've got and reduce 'em to submission, we've got to
do it before anybody succeeds in making an infrawave space detector.
Understand?"
Viggon Sarri looked from one to the other, grimly. "You believe I'm
wasting time? Is that it?"