moving sideways across the screen. But, of greater
importance, two other objects moved across the screen faster than the
jammer, indicating they were nearer the ship than was the jammer. He
picked the one which appeared the nearest to him, and with a series of
maneuvers and blasts from the rockets placed the object between himself
and the jammer. He switched the radar on again. Some of the jammer
signal was still leaking through, but the object, whatever it was, made
an effective shield. The radar images were quite sharp and clear.

He glanced at the clock. Nullifying the jammer had cost him seventy-five
seconds. He'd have to hurry, in order to make up for that time. The
infrared detector showed two targets which the radar insisted weren't
there. He shifted radar frequency. They still weren't there. He decided
they were small fragments which didn't reflect much radar energy, and
rejected them. He set the radar to a linearly polarized mode. Eight of
the targets showed a definite amplitude modulation on the echo. That
meant they were rotating slowly. He switched to circular polarization,
to see if they presented a constant area to the radar beam. He compared
the echoes for both modes of polarization. Five of the targets were skin
fragments, spinning about an axis skewed with respect to the radar beam.
These he rejected. Two more were structural spars. They couldn't conceal
a warhead. He rejected them. After careful examination of the fine
structure of the echo from the last object, he was able to classify it
as a large irregular mass, probably a section of computer, waving some
cables about. Its irregularity weighed against its containing the
warhead. Even if it didn't burn up in the atmosphere, its trajectory
would be too unpredictable.

He turned to the rest of the targets. Time was getting short. He
extracted every conceivable bit of information out of what his detectors
told him. He checked each fragment for resonant frequencies, getting an
idea of the size and shape of each. He checked the radiated infrared
spectrum. He checked the decrement of the reflected radar pulse. Each
scrap of information was an indication about the identity of the
fragments. With frequent glances at the clock, constantly reminding him
of how rapidly his time was running out, he checked and cross-checked
the data coming in to him. Fighting to keep his mind calm and his
thoughts clear, he deduced, inferred, and decided. One fragment after
an