de. He and the others will be proud of what ye've done."

MacFife was pulling himself along rapidly by the convenient handholds.
Rip followed, his breathing a little rapid in the heavier air of the
ship. He followed the Scottish commander through the maze of passages
that crossed the ship. They stopped at a valve where spacemen were
waiting. With them was an officer who carried a big case.

"The instruments," MacFife said, pointing. "We've tinkered with them a
bit, just to make it look real."

"But why do you want to board the Connie?"

MacFife's eye closed in a wink. "Ye'll see."

There was a slight bump as the cruiser touched the Connie. The waiting
group recovered balance and faced the valve. Rip knew that spacemen in
the inner lock were making fast to the Connie, setting up the airtight
seal.

It wasn't long before a bell sounded, and a spaceman opened the inner
valve. Two men in space suits were waiting, and beyond them the outer
valve was joined by a tube to the outer valve of the Connie ship. Rip
stared at the Connie spacemen in their red tunics and gray trousers.
One, an officer with two pistols in his belt, stepped forward.

Rip noted that the other Connies were heavy with weapons, too. None of
his group had any.

"I'm the commander," the scowling Connie said. "Bring your instruments
in. We'll check them; then you get out."

"Ye're no verra friendly," MacFife said, his burr even more pronounced.
He led Rip and the officer with the instruments into the Connie ship.

A handsome Federation spaceman with a moustache, the first Rip had ever
seen, stepped into the room from a passageway on the opposite side. The
spaceman bowed with exquisite grace. "I have the honor of making myself
known," he proclaimed. "Commander Remy Galliene of the _Sagittarius_."

The Connie commander grunted. He was afraid, Rip realized. The Connie
suspected a trick, and he had no idea what it might be.

Galliene saw Rip's black uniform and hurried to shake his hand. "So
this is the young lieutenant who is responsible! Lieutenant, today the
spacemen honor the Planeteers because of you. Most days we fight each
other, but today we fight together, eh? I am glad to meet you!"

"And I'm glad to meet you, sir," Rip returned. He liked the twinkle in
the Frenchman's eye. He would have given a lot to know what scheme
Galliene and MacFife had cooked up.

The Connie had overheard Galliene's greeting. He glared at Rip. The
Frenchman saw th