erspace any closer to
anything the size of Tanith, the collapsing field itself would
kick her back. "We have to assume Dunnan's been there at least
nine hundred hours. By that time, he could have put in a
detection-station, and maybe missile-launchers, on the moon. The
_Enterprise_ carries four pinnaces, the same as the _Nemesis_; in
his place, I'd have at least two of them on off-planet patrol. So
let's accept it that we'll be detected as soon as we come out of
the last jump, and come out with the moon directly between us and
the planet. If it's occupied, we can knock it off on the way in."

"A lot of captains would try to come out with the moon masked off
by the planet," Harkaman said.

"Would you?"

The big man shook his tousled head. "No. If they have launchers on
the moon, they could launch at us in a curve around the planet, by
data relayed from the other side, and we'd be at a disadvantage
replying. Just go straight in. You hearing this, Guatt?"

"Yeah. It makes sense. Sort of. Now, stop pestering me. Sharll,
look here a minute."

The normal-space astrogator conferred with him; Alvyn Karffard, the
executive officer, joined them. Finally Kirbey pulled out the big
red handle, twisted it, and said, "All right, jumping." He shoved
it in. "I suppose I cut it too fine; now we'll get kicked back half
a million miles."

The screen convulsed again; when it cleared the third planet was
directly in the center; its small moon, looking almost as large, was
a little above and to the right, sunlit on one side and planetlit on
the other. Kirbey locked the red handle, gathered up his tobacco and
lighter and things from the ledge, and pulled down the cover of the
instrument-console, locking it.

"All yours, Sharll," he told Renner.

"Eight hours to atmosphere," Renner said. "That's if we don't have
to waste a lot of time shooting up Junior, there."

Vann Larch was looking at the moon in the six hundred power screen.

"I don't see anything to shoot. Five hundred miles; one
planetbuster, or four or five thermonuclears," he said.

* * * * *

It wasn't right, Trask thought indignantly. Minutes ago, Tanith had
been six and a half billion miles away. Seconds ago, fifty-odd million.
And now, a quarter of a million, and looking close enough to touch
in the screen, it would take them eight hours to reach it. Why, on
hyperdrive you could go forty-eight trillion miles in that time.

Well, it t