is helmet, on his own ship,
the reason for the helmet's high crest was apparent. He had a high crest
of what looked remarkably like feathers--and it was not artificial. It
grew there. The reason for conventionalized plumes on bronze survey
plates was clear. It was exactly like the reason for human features or
figures as decorative additions to the inscriptions on Space Survey
marker plates. Even the Plumie's hands had odd crestlets which stood out
when he bent his fingers. The other Plumies were no less graceful and no
less colorful. They had equally clear soprano voices. They were equally
miniature and so devoid of apparent menace.

But there were also technical surprises. Baird was taken immediately to
the Plumie ship's engine room, and Diane heard the sharp intake of breath
with which he appeared to recognize its working principle. There were
Plumie engineers working feverishly at it, attempting to discover
something to repair. But they found nothing. The Plumie drive simply
would not work.

They took Baird through the ship's entire fabric. And their purpose, when
it became clear, was startling. The Plumie ship had no rocket tubes. It
had no beam-projectors except small-sized objects which were--which must
be--their projectors of tractor and pressor beams. They were elaborately
grounded to the ship's substance. But they were not originally designed
for ultra-heavy service. They hadn't and couldn't have the enormous
capacity Baird had expected. He was astounded.

* * * * *

When he returned to the _Niccola_, he went instantly to the radar room to
make sure that pictures taken through his scanner had turned out well.
And there was Diane.

But the skipper's voice boomed at him from the wall.

"_Mr. Baird! What have you to add to the information you sent back?_"

"Three items, sir," said Baird. He drew a deep breath. "For the first,
sir, the Plumie ship is unarmed. They've tractor and pressor beams for
handling material. They probably use them to build their cairns. But they
weren't meant for weapons. The Plumies, sir, hadn't a thing to fight with
when they drove for us after we detected them."

The skipper blinked hard.

"_Are you sure of that, Mr. Baird?_"

"Yes, sir," said Baird uncomfortably. "The Plumie ship is an exploring
ship--a survey ship, sir. You saw their mapping equipment. But when they
spotted us, and we spotted them--they bluffed! When we fired rockets at
them, t