a reporter, Admiral,"
he said. "Will you talk to me?"

The Admiral nodded to the seat across from him. "Sit down," he said. He
glanced around the room.

The reporter caught the look. "I'll keep it light, sir," he said. "I
don't want company either." That was being frank.

* * * * *

"You want the answers to some questions, don't you?" the Admiral said.

"Why, yes, sir," the reporter said. He started to inconspicuously key
his pocket recorder, but caught himself. "May I record your remarks,
Admiral?" he said. Frankness all the way.

"Go ahead," said the Admiral.

"Now, Admiral," the reporter began, "the Terran public has of course
..."

"Never mind the patter, son," the Admiral said mildly. "I know what the
questions are. I've read all the memoirs of the crew. They've been
coming out at the rate of about two a year for some time now. I had my
own reasons for not wanting to add anything to my official statement."

The Admiral poured wine into his glass. "Excuse me," he said. "Will you
join me?" He signalled the waiter.

"Another wine glass, please," he said. He looked at the golden wine in
the glass, held it up to the light. "You know, the Florida wines are as
good as any in the world," he said. "That's not to say the California
and Ohio wines aren't good. But this Flora Pinellas is a genuine
original, not an imitation Rhine; and it compares favorably with the
best of the old vintages, particularly the '87."

The glass arrived and the waiter poured. The reporter had the wit to
remain silent.

* * * * *

"The first question is usually, how did I know I could take the Mancji
ship. After all, it was big, vast. It loomed over us like a mountain.
The Mancji themselves weighed almost two tons each; they liked six gee
gravity. They blasted our communication off the air, just for practice.
They talked big, too. We were invaders in their territory. They were
amused by us. So where did I get the notion that our attack would be
anything more than a joke to them? That's the big question." The Admiral
shook his head.

"The answer is quite simple. In the first place, they were pulling six
gees by using a primitive dumbbell configuration. The only reason for
that type of layout, as students of early space vessel design can tell
you, is to simplify setting up a gee field effect using centrifugal
force. So they obviously had no gravity field generators.

"Th