was well inside the air lock, MacMaine whispered to the
young captain, "As you can see, the general has got a rather bad cold.
He'll want to remain in his cabin until he's over it. See that
anti-coryza shots are sent up from the dispensary as soon as we are out
of the Solar System. Now, let's go; we have less than a minute till
take-off."

MacMaine went up the ramp with the captain scrambling up behind him.

Tallis was just stepping into the commander's cabin as the two men
entered the air lock. MacMaine didn't see him again until the ship was
twelve minutes on her way--nearly five billion miles from Earth and
still accelerating.

He identified himself at the door and Tallis opened it cautiously.

"I brought your anti-coryza shot, sir," he said. In a small ship like
the _Manila_, the captain and the seven crew members could hear any
conversation in the companionways. He stepped inside and closed the
door. Then he practically collapsed on the nearest chair and had a good
case of the shakes.

"So-so f-f-far, s-so good," he said.

General Tallis grasped his shoulder with a firm hand. "Brace up,
Sepastian," he said gently in Kerothic. "You've done a beautiful job. I
still can't believe it, but I'll have to admit that if this is an act
it's a beautiful one." He gestured toward the small desk in one corner
of the room and the big package that was sitting on it. "The food is
all there. I'll have to eat sparingly, but I can make it. Now, what's
the rest of the plan?"

MacMaine took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. His shakes
subsided to a faint, almost imperceptible quiver. "The captain doesn't
know our destination. He was told that he would receive secret
instructions from you." His voice, he noticed thankfully, was almost
normal. He reached into his uniform jacket and took out an
official-looking sealed envelope. "These are the orders. We are going
out to arrange a special truce with the Kerothi."

"_What?_"

"That's what it says here. You'll have to get on the subradio and do
some plain and fancy talking. Fortunately, not a man jack aboard this
ship knows a word of your language, so they'll think you're arranging
truce terms.

"They'll be sitting ducks when your warship pulls up alongside and
sends in a boarding party. By the time they realize what has happened,
it will be too late."

"You're giving us the ship, too?" Tallis looked at him wonderingly.
"And eight prisoners?"

"Nine," said MacMa