ird reported crisply. At his first words
Taine burst into raging commands for men to follow him through the
_Niccola's_ air lock and fight a boarding party of Plumies in empty
space. The skipper very savagely ordered him to be quiet.

"Only one figure has come out," reported Baird. The skipper watched on a
vision plate, but Baird reported so all the _Niccola's_ company would
know. "It's small--less than five feet ... I'll see better in a moment."
Sunlight smote down into the valley between the ships. "It's wearing a
pressure suit. It seems to be the same material as the ship. It walks on
two legs, as we do ... It has two arms, or something very similar ... The
helmet of the suit is very high ... It looks like the armor knights used
to fight in ... It's making its way to our air lock ... It does not use
magnetic-soled shoes. It's holding onto lines threaded along the other
ship's hull ..."

The skipper said curtly:

"_Mr. Baird! I hadn't noticed the absence of magnetic shoes. You seem to
have an eye for important items. Report to the air lock in person. Leave
Lieutenant Holt to keep an eye on outside objects. Quickly, Mr. Baird!_"

* * * * *

Baird laid his hand on Diane's shoulder. She smiled at him.

"I'll watch!" she promised.

He went out of the radar room, walking on what had been a side wall. The
giddiness and dizziness of continued rotation was growing less, now. He
was getting used to it. But the _Niccola_ seemed strange indeed, with the
standard up and down and Earth-gravity replaced by a vertical which was
all askew and a weight of ounces instead of a hundred and seventy pounds.

He reached the air lock just as the skipper arrived. There were others
there--armed and in pressure suits. The skipper glared about him.

"I am in command here," he said very grimly indeed. "Mr. Taine has a
special function, but I am in command! We and the creatures on the Plumie
ship are in a very serious fix. One of them apparently means to come on
board. There will be no hostility, no sneering, no threatening gestures!
This is a parley! You will be careful. But you will not be
trigger-happy!"

He glared around again, just as a metallic rapping came upon the
_Niccola's_ air-lock door. The skipper nodded:

"Let him in the lock, Mr. Baird."

Baird obeyed. The humming of the unlocking-system sounded. There were
clankings. The outer air lock dosed. There was a faint whistling as air
went in. T