to board us?_"

"Not yet, sir--"

Taine burst in, his voice high-pitched and thick with hatred:

"_Damage-control parties attention! Arm yourselves and assemble at
starboard air lock! Rocket crews get into suits and prepare to board this
Plumie--_"

"_Countermand!_" bellowed the skipper from the speaker beside Baird's
ear. "_Those orders are canceled! Dammit, if we were successfully boarded
we'd blow ourselves to bits! Those are our orders! D'you think the
Plumies will let their ship be taken? And wouldn't we blow up with them?
Mr. Taine, you will take no offensive action without specific orders!
Defensive action is another matter. Mr. Baird! I consider this welding
business pure accident. No one would be mad enough to plan it. You watch
the Plumies and keep me informed!_"

His voice ceased. And Baird had again the frustrating duty of remaining
still and keeping his head while other men engaged in physical
activity. He helped Diane to a chair--which was fastened to the
floor-which-was-now-a-wall--and she wedged herself fast and began a
review of what each of the outside scanners reported. Baird called for
more batteries. Power for the radar and visions was more important than
anything else, just then. If there were more Plumie ships ...

* * * * *

Electricians half-floated, half-dragged extra batteries to the radar
room. Baird hooked them in. The universe outside the ship again appeared
filled with brilliantly colored dots of light which were stars. More
satisfying, the globe-scanners again reported no new objects anywhere.
Nothing new within a quarter million miles. A half-million. Later Baird
reported:

"Radars report no strange objects within a million miles of the
_Niccola_, sir."

"_Except the ship we're welded to! But you are doing very well. However,
microphones say there is movement inside the Plumie._"

Diane beckoned for Baird's attention to a screen, which Baird had
examined before. Now he stiffened and motioned for her to report.

"We've a scanner, sir," said Diane, "which faces what looks like a port
in the Plumie ship. There's a figure at the port. I can't make out
details, but it is making motions, facing us."

"_Give me the picture!_" snapped the skipper.

Diane obeyed. It was the merest flip of a switch. Then her eyes went
back to the spherical-sweep scanners which reported the bearing and
distance of every solid object within their range. She set up two