She smiled; his actions were convincingly spontaneous.
"I think," she said, "that for the moment I'll believe you."
"Thanks," he replied. "And since we're both involved with logic computers on somewhat the same design—since international spies have been happily swapping information—I think we can be honest and give away no secrets."
"Done," she said, holding out a small hand. He shook it gently and held it longer than necessary.
"Now," he said, "let's see what can be done about taking off from this old tub. I dislike being surrounded by enemies."
"I've seen nothing human but you," said Narina.
"Um. Now tell me; if the art of guided machinery has advanced this far, why would any country this capable need to steal our computers?"
"Possibly to keep us from using them to compute the truth," she said.
He shook his head. "Impossible."
"Why?"