He thought of the word "blockade"—another part of his education in the outmoded art of war. Canis III was blockaded.
He searched for the ship that had him fast. Nothing. He stepped up the magnification of his vision-screens. Again nothing. The sun Canis flamed ahead and below, and there were suspiciously bright stars which by their coloring were probably planets. But the Med ship was still well beyond the habitable part of a sol-class sun's solar system.
Calhoun pulled a photocell out of its socket and waited. A new and very bright light winked into being. It wavered. He stuck the photocell to the screen, covering the brightness. He plugged in its cord to an audio amplifier. A dull humming sounded. Not quite as clearly as a spacephone voice, but clear enough, a voice said:
"If you are Med Ship Esclipus Twenty, answer by light-beam, quoting your orders."
Calhoun was already stabbing another button, and somewhere a signal-lamp was extruding itself from its recess in the hull. He said irritably:
"I'll show my orders, but I do not put on performances of dramatic readings! This is the devil of a business! I came here on request, to be a ministering angel or a lady with a lamp, or something equally improbable. I did not come to be snatched out of overdrive, even if you have a war on. This is a Med ship!"
The slightly blurred voice said as heavily as before:
"This is a war, yes. We expected you. We wish you to take our final warning to Canis III. Follow us to our base and you will be briefed."
Calhoun said tartly:
"Suppose you tow me! When you dragged me out of overdrive you played the devil with my power!"