n image of a
huge, ethereal spaceship, missile ports open, weapons aimed directly at
Big Joe.

The speaker interrupted his nightmare. "This is fire control, Admiral.
With your permission I'll scatter a few C-bombs ..."

Heselton leaped for the microphone. "Are you out of your mind? We
haven't the slightest idea of the forces that guy has. We might be in
the center of a whole blooming fleet. Ever think of that?"

The alien's face, still smirking, appeared again on the screen. "He
says," said the interpreter, "that he finds the presence of our armed
ship very annoying."

Heselton knew what he had to do. "Tell him," he said, swallowing hard,
"that we apologize. This part of the galaxy is strange to us."

"He says he is contemplating blasting us out of the sky."

Heselton said nothing, but he longed to reach out and throttle the
grinning, alien face.

"However," the interpreter continued, "he will let us go safely if we
leave immediately. He says to send an unarmed, diplomatic vessel next
time and maybe his people will talk to us."

"Thank him for his kindness." Heselton's jaws clenched so tightly they
ached.

"He says," said the interpreter, "to get the hell out."

The grinning face snapped off the screen, but the cackling laughter
continued to reverberate in the control room until the radio shack
finally turned off the receiver.

"Reverse course," the admiral ordered quietly. "Maximum drive."

A thousand missile launchers, designed to disintegrate solar systems,
were deactivated, hundreds of gyros swung the mile-long ship end for end
and stabilized her on a reverse course, drive units big enough to power
several major cities whined into operation, anti-grav generators with
the strength to shift small planets counterbalanced the external
acceleration, and the ship moved, away, with a speed approaching that of
light.

"Well," muttered Heselton, "that's the very first time Big Joe has ever
had to retreat." As if it were his own personal failure, he walked
slowly across the control room and down the corridor towards his cabin.

"Admiral!" Lost in thought, Heselton barely heard the call.

"Admiral, look!" Pausing at the door to his cabin, Heselton turned to
face the ship's chief astronomer running up waving two large
photographs.

"Look, sir," the professor gasped for breath. "We thought this was a
spot on the negative, but one of the men got curious and enlarged it
about a hundred times." He held up one o