"Ah—yes," said Theodi. "We can't."
"Maybe I can," said Sandra. "That'll be my contribution. I think I can call them."
"Nine light-years—" objected Theodi.
"Remember that the gravitic spectrum propagates at the speed of light raised to the 2.71828 ... th power. That'll make talking to Terra like calling across the room. May I try?"
"You think they'll be listening for you?"
"Can't miss," said Sandra with a positive gesture. "My ship, the Lady Luck, is equipped with the standard communications set. It puts out right in the middle of the main communications band of the electrogravitic. If I can get enough power to beam towards Sol, it'll hit them right in the middle."
"You intend to use the set in the Lady Luck?"
"Overloaded to the utmost. They tell me that they'll take one hundred percent overloads for an hour. Make that one thousand percent, and it may last ten minutes. Ten minutes is all I need to give them our trouble—they have recorders if McBride isn't there to hear it in person."
"Where are you going to get that power?" asked Theodi.
"From you."