onnie. Rip looked down along the length of the ship. The valve connection
was in the middle of each ship, at the point of greatest diameter. From
that point each ship grew more slender.

MacFife pointed to the Connie's nose. Projecting from it like great horns
were the ship's steering tubes. Unlike the Federation cruiser which
blasted steam through internal tubes that did not project, the Connie used
chemical fuel.

"Watch," MacFife said.

There were similar tubes on the Connie's stern, Rip knew. He wondered what
they had to do with the plan.

MacFife walked to a wall communicator. "Follow instructions."

He turned to Rip. "Remember, lad. The _Sagittarius_ is on the other side
of the Connie, about to do the same thing."

Rip waited in silence, wondering.

Then the voice horn called, "Valve closed!"

A second voice yelled, "Blast!"

A tremor jarred its way through the entire ship, making the deck throb
under Rip's feet. He saw that the ship's nose had swung away from the
Connie. What in space--

"Blast!"

The nose swung into the Connie again with a jar that sent Rip sliding into
the clear plastic of the astrodome. His nose jammed into the plastic but
he didn't even wince, because he saw the Connie's steering tubes buckle
under the _Aquila_'s sudden shove.

And suddenly the picture was clear. The two Federation cruisers hadn't
cared about getting into the Connie ship. They had only wanted an excuse
to tie up to it so they could do what had just been done.

They had sheared off the enemy's steering tubes, first at the stern, then
at the bow, leaving him helpless, able to go only forward or back in the
direction in which he happened to be pointing!

MacFife had a broad grin on his face. As Rip started to speak, he held up
his hand and pointed at a wall speaker.

The Connie commander came on the circuit. He screamed, "You planned that!
You--you--" He subsided into his own language.

Galliene's voice spoke soothingly. "But my dear commander! How can I
apologize enough? Believe me, the man responsible will be reward--I mean,
the man responsible will be disciplined. You may rest assured of it. How
unfortunate! I am overcome with shame. A terrible accident! Terrible."

MacFife picked up a microphone. "Same here, Connie. A terrible accident.
Aye, the man who did it will hear from me."

"It was no accident," the Connie screamed.

"Ah," Galliene replied, "but you cannot prove otherwise. Commander, do you
rea