of "_Co-o-ntact!_" went through the ship and all inner doors closed,
sealing the ship into sections. Bors was already at the board in the
control room. He did not accept the predictions of Talents, Incorporated
as absolute truth. It bothered him that such irrational means of
securing information should be so accurate. So he compromised in his own
mind to the point where, when Talents, Incorporated gave specific
information, it was possible; no more. Then, having admitted so much, he
acted on the mere possibility, and pretended to be surprised when it
turned out to be a fact.

That was the case now. A ship had appeared in this solar system at the
time the ship-arrival Talent on the _Sylva_ predicted. Bors scowled, and
swung the _Isis_ in line between Tralee and the new arrival. He turned,
then, and drove steadily out toward it. The other ship's screens would
show a large blip which was the planet, and in direct line a very much
smaller blip which was the _Isis_. The small blip might not be noticed
because it was in line with the larger. If it were noticed, it would be
confusing, because such things should not happen. But the cruisers of
Mekin were not apt to be easily alarmed. They represented a great
empire, all of whose landing-grids were safely controlled, and though
there was disaffection everywhere there was no reason to suspect
rebellion at operations in space.

For a long time nothing happened. The _Isis_ drove to meet the cruiser.
The two vessels should be approaching each other at a rate which was the
total of their speeds. Bors punched computer-keys and got the
gravitational factor at this distance from Tralee's sun. He set the
_Isis's_ solar-system drive to that exact quantity. He waited.

His own radar was now non-operative. Its first discovery-pulse would
have been observed by the Mekinese duty-officer. The fact that it did
not repeat would be abnormal. The duty-officer would wonder why it
didn't come again.

The astrogation-radar cut off. Then a single strong pulse came. It would
be a ranging-pulse. Cargo-ship radars sacrificed high accuracy for wide
and deep coverage. But war-vessels carried pulse instruments which could
measure distances within feet up to thousands of miles, and by
phase-scrambling among the echoes even get some information about the
size and shape of the object examined. Not much, but some.

Bors relaxed. Things were going well. When four other ranging-pulses
arrived at second inte