"Only one chance. They probably didn't staff it too well. On an abortive attempt like this, they'd put only those men they could afford to lose aboard. Probably a skeleton crew. Also the knowledge that detection meant extermination, therefore go fast and light and as frugal as possible on crewmen. That's our one chance."
"One more chance," interrupted the technician. "We have the drive pattern of the Mardinex in the cardex. We can bollix their drive. That's one more item in our favor."
"Right," said Ben. "What's our velocity with respect to theirs?"
"Forty miles per second."
"Tim, launch two torpedoes immediately. Pete, continue course above Mardinex and cross their apex at two hundred miles. Tim, as we cross their apex, drop a case of interferers. Once that is done, Pete, drop back and give Tim a chance to say hello with the AutoMacs."
"Giving them the whole thing at once?"
"Yes. And one thing more, Jimmy?"
"Technician to executive," answered Jimmy. "I'm here."
"Can you rig your drive-pattern interferer?"
"In about a minute. I've been setting up the constants from the cardex file."