or damage done by blueskins, of
course--and get back to Wealdian ships with absolutely no danger of
carrying contagion. If you'll make sure the recording's clear."

* * * * *

He described, clearly and specifically, exactly how a man could be
outfitted to walk into any area of any conceivable contagion, do
whatever seemed necessary in the way of looting--but Calhoun did not use
the word--and then return to his fellows with no risk whatever of
bringing back infection. He gave exact details. Then he said;

"My radar says you've four ships converging on me to blast me out of
space. I sign off."

The Med Ship disappeared from normal space, and entered that improbably
stressed area of extension which it formed about itself and in which
physical constants were wildly strange. For one thing, the speed of
light in overdrive-stressed space had not been measured yet. It was too
high. For another, a ship could travel very many times 186000 miles per
second in overdrive.

The Med Ship did just that. There was nobody but Calhoun and Murgatroyd
on board. There was companionable silence,--there were only the small
threshold-of-perception sounds which one did not often notice, but which
it would have been intolerable to have stop.

Calhoun luxuriated in regained privacy. For seven days he'd had
twenty-four other human beings crowded into the two cabins of the ship,
with never so much as one yard of space between himself and someone
else. One need not be snobbish to wish to be alone sometimes!

Murgatroyd licked his whiskers thoughtfully.

"I hope," said Calhoun, "that things work out right. But they may
remember on Dara that I'm responsible for some ten million bushels of
grain reaching them. Maybe--just possibly--they'll listen to me and act
sensibly. After all, there's only one way to break a famine. Not with
ten million bushels for a whole planet! And certainly not with bombs!"

Driving direct, without pausing for practisings, the Med Ship could
arrive at Dara in little more than five days. Calhoun looked forward to
relaxation. As a beginning he made ready to give himself an adequate
meal for the first time since first landing on Dara. Then, presently, he
sat down wrily to a double meal of Darian famine-rations, which were far
from appetizing. But there wasn't anything else on board.

* * * * *

He had some pleasure later, though, envisioning what went elsewhe