them, or to them, out here?
“I got my answer six months ago, when we stopped back at Nerthus. Very polite; thev’d even written in human Bqsic. Yes, their ships had gone through the X region about four centuries ago. But thev hadn’t noticed the things I mentioned, and were sure they hadn’t done anv transplanting, accidentally or otherwise. And they had lost four ships.
“All right.” Joachim leaned back, sprawling his logs under the table, and blew a series of smole rings. “There you have it, lads. Make what you will of it.”
Silence, then. The wind blowing in tbrou-h the open door stirred the tapestries. A light metal plaque rang like a tiny gong.
Finally Ortega spokee, as if with an effort; “What about the Tiunrans? Didn’t they do anything about their missing ships?”
“No, except leave this part of space alone,” said Joachim. “And they haven’t informed Coordination?”
‘Not as far as I know. But then, Coordination never asked them.”
Tborkild looked bleak. “This is a serious matter.”
“Now there’s an understatement,” drawled Joachim.
“You haven’t absolutely proved your case.”
“Maybe not. But it sure ought to be looked into.”
“Very well, then. Let’s accept your guess. The X region, perhaps the entire Great Cross, is under the rule of a secretive and hostile civilization technologically equal to ours-or superior, for all we know. I still can’t imagine how you’d conceal the kind of technology involved. just consider the neutrino emission of a large atomic power plant, for instance. You can find your way across many lightyears to a planet where they’re using atomic energy, just by the help of a neutrino detector. Well, maybe they have some kind of screen.” Thorkild tapped the table with a lean forefinger. “So, they don’t like us and they’ve spied us out a bit. What does that imply?”
“Conquest-they figure to invade the Union?” asked MacTeague.
Trekker Petroff said, “They may just want to be left alone.”
“What could they hope to gain by war?” protested Ortega.
“I’m not guessing about motives,” said Joachim. “Those creatures aren’t human. I say we’d better assume they’re hostile.”
“All right,” said Thorkild. “You’ve given most thought to this business. What follows?”
“Why, look at the map,” said Joachim mildly. “The Union, both as a cultural and a semipolitical unit, is expanding inward toward Galactic center, Sagittari. The X empire lies
squarely across the Union’s path. X, however peaceful, may feel that countermeasures are called for.
“And where are tve? On the Sagittari-ward frontier of the Union, and spreading into the unmapped regions beyond. Right smack between tl-le Union and X. The Coordination Service of the Union doesn’t like Nomads, and X has already shown what he thinks of us. We’re the barbarians-right between the upper and nether millstones!”
Another pause. Death they could face, but extinction of their entire tribe was a ntimbin,, concept; and the whole Nomad history had been one long flight from cultural absorption.
Thirty-odd ships, with some fifty thousand humans—
w,hat can be done?
Joachim answered the unspoken cry with a few slow
words:
“I’ve been thinking about this for some little while, friends, and have some sort of an answer. The first requirement of any operation is intelligence, and we don’t even know if X
is a menace.
“Here’s what this one proposes. Let’s just keep the matter quiet for the time being. Naturally, no ship will enter the Great Cross, but otherwise we can go on as usual. But I’ll make a scout of the Peregrine, and we’ll spy out
the unknowns.”
“Eh?” Tborkild blinked at him.
“Sure. I’ll tell most of my crew, at first, that it’s an exploratory venture. We’ll snoop around as we ordinarily do, and I’ll direct the snooping the way I tbink’ll be most useful. We can fight if we must, and once we go into hyperdrive we can’t be followed or shot at.”
“Well, that sounds-very good,” said Thorkild.
“Of course,” smiled the Peregrine, “we can’t be hampered in our work. I’ll want a formal action-in-council authorizing me or my crew to break, bend, or even obey any law of the Nomads, the Union, or anybody else that may seem convenient.’
‘Hmmm-1 think I see where this could lead,” said MacTeague.