"We might have tried again," insisted Thompson.
"We might have tried for a month. We couldn't even touch them. If you're intimating that I gave up quick—?"
"You weren't leaning over backwards."
"Quoting an old, famous fable, 'sometimes it is better to fall flat on your face.'"
"Meaning?"
"We've got whole skins. They were after captives, not meat. They wanted the same thing we do but they got 'em first."
"So?"
"So we take whatever wave analysis we have and try to figure 'em out. If we can reproduce any of that stuff, we'll go back."
"Hm-m-m."
"Look, Thompson, as far as this job is concerned, your job of keeping Lane and myself out of one another's hair is over. One head of hair is gone, see."