l but his own
small breed. Yet he seemed ideal for weapons officer on the _Niccola_,
provided he never commanded the ship. Because _if_ the Plumies were
hostile, a well-adjusted, normal man would never think as much like them
as a Taine. He was capable of the kind of thinking Plumies might
practice, if they were xenophobes themselves.

But to Baird, so extreme a precaution as a known psychopathic condition
in an officer was less than wholly justified. It was by no means certain
that the Plumies would instinctively be hostile. Suspicious, yes.
Cautious, certainly. But the only fact known about the Plumie
civilization came from the cairns and silicon-bronze inscribed tablets
they'd left on oxygen-type worlds over a twelve-hundred-light-year range
in space, and the only thing to be deduced about the Plumies themselves
came from the decorative, formalized symbols like feathery plumes which
were found on all their bronze tablets. The name "Plumies" came from that
symbol.

Now, though, Taine was called to the navigation room to confer on
tactics. The _Niccola_ swerved and drove toward the object Baird
identified as a Plumie ship. This was at 05 hours 10 minutes ship time.
The human ship had a definite velocity sunward, of course. The Plumie
ship had been concealed by the meteor swarm of a totally unknown comet.
It was an excellent way to avoid observation. On the other hand, the
_Niccola_ had been mapping, which was bound to attract attention. Now
each ship knew of the other's existence. Since the _Niccola_ had been
detected, she had to carry out orders and attempt a contact to gather
information.

* * * * *

Baird verified that the _Niccola's_ course was exact for interception at
her full-drive speed. He said in a flat voice:

"I wonder how the Plumies will interpret this change of course? They know
we're aware they're not a meteorite. But charging at them without even
trying to communicate could look ominous. We could be stupid, or too
arrogant to think of anything but a fight." He pressed the skipper's call
and said evenly: "Sir, I request permission to attempt to communicate
with the Plumie ship. We're ordered to try to make friends if we know
we've been spotted."

Taine had evidently just reached the navigation room. His voice snapped
from the speaker:

"_I advise against that, sir! No use letting them guess our level of
technology!_"

Baird said coldly:

"They've a good idea a