Bilford frowned in thought. "I don't know; I'd never thought of it from that angle. They don't have any obvious correlation, I can tell you that. I'll check on it, though. I'll run it through the differential analyzer."
Roysland nodded. "Try that. Let me know if you get anything."
He cut Bilford off and dialed another number. The image that appeared this time was wearing the uniform of a fleet commander.
"Commander Allerdyce, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"
"Go ahead, Roysland. What is it? I hope you're not going to needle me the way your boss does. I'd have tossed him out of my office, except that you can't grab a solidiphone image. Best I could do was shut him off, which was very unsatisfactory." The commander grinned wryly at the thought.
A big grin spread itself across Roysland's blocky face. "I know how you feel. No, commander, I just wanted to ask a couple of questions, as I said.
"You're familiar with the details of the Enlissa attack on that medical supply convoy?"
The fleet commander nodded.
"Well," Roysland continued, "what would happen if you were in command of the cruiser and you found a trace on the scope that indicated an Enlissa ship?"
"The orders cover that," said the commander. "The cruiser cuts in with the aJ guns before the Enlissa ship gets within torpedo range."