[Illustration]

Baird raged. But he said coldly:

"We're a long way from home, Mr. Taine, and the Dirac pusher drive is
slow. If we headed back to base in the Plumie ship with its Dirac pusher,
we'd all be dead of old age before we'd gone halfway."

"_But unless we take it_," raged Taine, "_we hit this sun in fourteen
days! We don't have to die now! We can land on the oxygen planet up
ahead! We've only to kill these vermin and take their ship, and we'll
live!_"

Diane's voice said dispassionately:

"Report. A Plumie in a pressure suit just came out of their air lock.
It's carrying a parcel toward our air lock."

Taine snarled instantly:

"_They'll sneak something in the _Niccola_ to blast it, and then cut free
and go away!_"

[Illustration]

The skipper said very grimly:

"_Mr. Taine, credit me with minimum brains! There is no way the Plumies
can take this ship without an atomic bomb exploding to destroy both
ships. You should know it!_" Then he snapped: "_Air lock area, listen for
a knock, and let in the Plumie or the parcel he leaves._"

There was silence. Baird said very quietly:

"I doubt they think it possible to cut the ships apart. A torch is no
good on thick silicon bronze. It conducts heat too well! And they don't
use steel. They probably haven't a cutting-torch at all."

* * * * *

From the radar room he watched the Plumie place an object in the air lock
and withdraw. He watched from a scanner inside the ship as someone
brought in what the Plumie had left. An electronics man bustled forward.
He looked it over quickly. It was complex, but his examination suddenly
seemed satisfying to him. But a grayish vapor developed and he sniffed
and wrinkled his nose. He picked up a communicator.

"_Sir, they've sent us a power-generator. Some of its parts are going bad
in our atmosphere, sir, but this looks to me like a hell of a good idea
for a generator! I never saw anything like it, but it's good! You can set
it for any voltage and it'll turn out plenty juice!_"

"_Put it in helium_," snapped the skipper. "_It won't break down in that!
Then see how it serves!_"

In the radar room, Baird drew a deep breath. He went carefully to each of
the screens and every radar. Diane saw what he was about, and checked
with him. They met at the middle of the radar room.

"Everything's checked out," said Baird gravely. "There's nothing else
around. There's nothing we can be called