Rik Guelf or Captain Rodolph could have pointed out that fully two hundred Galactic Service crewmen had seen the ship, that beams passed through it and only telar caught its outlines. And there was no doubt of the alien's fire power. It had paralyzed electronic systems for hours, leaving the fleet marooned while it moved majestically onward. The Markab was Guelf's, the gift of his mother's family. They had influence and power, enough to provide as fleet a small space craft as the Galaxy could boast, and to borrow Captain Rodolph from patrol service. There was a reason for all this. Eiler Guelf, Rik's father, ranked foremost among explorers, had been lost with his ship, the Perseid, five years before. That was in the Rigel sector. And a half dozen outposts had caught the strange message Eiler Guelf sent before he vanished. "... _Met crystal woman_ ... _alien ship_ ... _am_--" Telar screens reached out by means of meshed beams. Streaks showed the path of meteors, leaving ghostly streaks. Once a freighter broke out of hyper, vanished after making a period check. "_Met crystal woman_ ..." Well, out of reports by the Galactic Service ships crippled by the great alien visitor, there were two which were responsible for the Markab's presence here, attempting to intercept. Two observers had seen--or thought they had--the titan-like outlines of a woman aboard the ship. Was _she_ the crystal woman? Captain Rodolph thought so. Danold wasn't consulted. He was the gift of Galactic Service, and that organization was curious to know if a trinogen gun could stand up against the strange but powerful blue beams the alien possessed. Rik Guelf had to know if his father was alive. And there was a chance.... For centuries, since Earthmen had left their own solar system and penetrated the galaxy with hyper space drive, there had been rumors of a giant race, the Titans. The strange, cold intelligent life-forms of the Rigellian cluster had their version of Titans, but they seemed afraid, or at least uninterested, in passing information to Galactic Service. Rigellians abhorred Earthmen. They traded, kept diplomatic contacts. Beyond that, they refused all contact. It was in territory of the Rigel federation that the elder Guelf had traveled, nearing the end of a five year charting voyage. And he had said in his last report that bits of information gained along his route bore out reports of a giant ship crossing the galaxy. The Perseid had tried to intercept the visitor. Rik Guelf was acting more on a hunch than on logic. He believed the Perseid was captured, that the aliens--Titans or not--came into the galaxy hunting specimens. Maybe it was logical after all. Captain Rodolph was inclined to accept Rik's theory, with reservations. He had agreed to let Rik try his hand at making contact should they meet the alien. But he also told Danold to be ready.