“Holy mazoo!”
“Twenty-six days ago an I-A search ship came through here, had a routine mini-sneaker look at the place. When he combed in his net of sneakers to check the tapes and films, lo and behold, he had a little stranger.”
“One of theirs?”
“No. It was a mini off the Delphinus Rediscovery. The Delphinus has been unreported for eighteen standard months!”
“Did it crack up here?”
“We don’t know. If it did, we haven’t been able to spot it. She was supposed to be way off in the Balandine System by now. But we’ve something else on our minds. It’s the one item that makes me want to blot out this place, and run home with my tail between my legs. We’ve a—”
Again the call bell chimed.
“NOW WHAT?” roared Stetson into the speaker.
“I’ve got a mini over that mob, Stet. They’re talking about us. It’s a definite raiding party.”
“What armament?”