-sneaker look at the place. When he combed in his net of sneakers to
check the tapes and films, lo and behold, he had a little stranger."

"One of _theirs_?"

"No. It was a _mini_ off the _Delphinus Rediscovery_. The _Delphinus_
has been unreported for eighteen standard months!"

"Did it crack up here?"

"We don't know. If it did, we haven't been able to spot it. She was
supposed to be way off in the Balandine System by now. But we've
something else on our minds. It's the one item that makes me want to
blot out this place, and run home with my tail between my legs. We've
a--"

Again the call bell chimed.

"NOW WHAT?" roared Stetson into the speaker.

"I've got a _mini_ over that mob, Stet. They're talking about us. It's a
definite raiding party."

"What armament?"

"Too gloomy in that jungle to be sure. The infra beam's out on this
_mini_. Looks like hard pellet rifles of some kind. Might even be off
the _Delphinus_."

"Can't you get closer?"

"Wouldn't do any good. No light down there, and they're moving up fast."

"Keep an eye on them, but don't ignore the other sectors," said Stetson.

"You think I was born yesterday?" barked the voice from the grid. The
contact broke off with an angry sound.

* * * * *

"One thing I like about the I-A," said Stetson. "It collects such
even-tempered types." He looked at the white uniform on Orne, wiped a
hand across his mouth as though he'd tasted something dirty.

"Why _am_ I wearing this thing?" asked Orne.

"Disguise."

"But there's no mustache!"

Stetson smiled without humor. "That's one of I-A's answers to those
fat-keistered politicians. We're setting up our own search system to
find the planets before _they_ do. We've managed to put spies in key
places at R&R. Any touchy planets our spies report, we divert the
files."

"Then what?"

"Then we look into them with bright boys like you--disguised as R&R
field men."

"Goody, goody. And what happens if R&R stumbles onto me while I'm down
there playing patty cake?"

"We disown you."

"But you said an I-A ship found this joint."

"It did. And then one of our spies in R&R intercepted a _routine_
request for an agent-instructor to be assigned here with full equipment.
Request signed by a First-Contact officer name of Diston ... of the
_Delphinus_!"

"But the Del--"

"Yeah. Missing. The request was a forgery. Now you see why I'm mostly
for rubbing out this place. Who'd