ldn't have been able to do a thing."

Colonel Mannheim smiled at the tall, lean man. "Granted," he said
agreeably, "but it's quite obvious that there are parts of our
technology that are just as alien to him as parts of his are to us.
Remember how he went to all the trouble of building a pentode vacuum
tube for a job that could have been done by transistors he already had
had a chance to get and didn't. His knowledge of solid-state physics
seems to be about a century and a half behind ours."

Stanton listened. Dr. Yoritomo was, in effect, one of his training
instructors. _Advanced Alien Psychology_, Stanton thought; _Seminar
Course. The Mental Whys & Wherefores of the Nipe, or How to Outthink the
Enemy in Twelve Dozen Easy Lessons. Instructor: Dr. George Yoritomo._

The smile on Yoritomo's face was beatific, but he held up a warning
finger. "Ah, ah, Colonel! We mustn't fall into a trap like that so
easily. Remember that gimmick he built last year? The one that blinded
those people in Baghdad? It had five perfect emeralds in it, connected
in series with silver wire. Eh?"

"That's true," the colonel admitted. "But they weren't used the way we'd
use semiconducting materials."

"Indeed not. But the thing _worked_, didn't it? He has a knowledge of
solid-state physics that we don't have, and vice versa."

"Which one would you say was ahead of the other?" Stanton asked. "I
don't mean just in solid-state physics, but in science as a whole."

"That's a difficult question to answer," Dr. Yoritomo said thoughtfully.
"Frankly, I'd put my money on his technology as encompassing more than
ours--at least, insofar as the physical sciences are concerned."

"I agree," said Colonel Mannheim. "He's got things in that little nest
of his that--" He stopped and shook his head slowly, as though he
couldn't find words.

"I will say this," Yoritomo continued. "Whatever his great technological
abilities, our friend the Nipe has plenty of good, solid guts. And
patience." He smiled a little, and then amended his statement. "From our
own point of view."

Stanton looked at him quizzically. "How do you mean? I was just about to
agree with you until you tacked that last phrase on. What does point of
view have to do with it?"

"Everything, I should say," said Yoritomo. "It all depends on the
equipment an individual has. A man, for instance, who rushes into a
building to save a life, wearing nothing but street clothes, has
courage. A man who