"O.K. Here it is. It is the Loki, a private craft owned by the publisher, Kane. Want the vital statistics?"
"Forget the color of eyes, weight, and fighting trim," smiled Maynard. "What's his course and velocity?"
"Deceleration at about 4-Gs, course within ten thousand miles of us. Velocity less than a thousand miles per second."
"How soon can we match her speed?"
"Depends upon their willingness. Perhaps ten or twelve hours will do it," answered Stan. "Get your astrogator on it."
"Executive to astrogator: Have you been listening?"
"Astrogator. You bet, and Stan's wild. Make it fourteen hours."
"Executive to pilot: Contact astrogator and follow course. Stan, will you try to contact them? I think it's your job, since they're at extreme range. Communications, you try with the standard sets, but I will not have any tinkering with the set-up in an effort to get another mile of range out of it."
"This is Stan. I have them on a weakling signals, they're asking for you."
"Tell 'em I'm here and we'll see 'em later. Check their course and prepare to match it. Then tell 'em to keep silence. That's an official order. Follow?"