Thompson interrupted. "This sounds like the leading edge of a fight. Stop it. We'll play it safe--Downing's way." "O.K.," assented Lane cheerfully enough. "Thing that bothers me," muttered Downing, "is the fact that if this bunch have any stuff, we're being recorded on the tapes right now." "So?" "And if they're as nasty as the Little Man claims, they'll be here with all of their nastiness." "All right," snapped Lane. "We've got detectors and analyzers, haven't we?" "Uh-huh. But we're a long way from home base. What we've got we've got to keep--and use. They can toss the book at us and go home for another library. Follow?" "Yup. Located a planet yet?" "Haven't you been paying attention?" "No. You're in the lead. I'm merely following as best I can." "Then sharp up. We're heading for the innermost planet now." "Go ahead--we'll go in to see. Then Lane and I will scout the sky above to keep off the incoming bunch, if any," said Thompson. It was an armed watch. Downing's flight landed and set up the solar collectors. From the ships there came a group of planet-mounted modines which had little to offer over the turrets in the ships save adding to their numbers. The other two flights dropped off their planet-mounts, too, since they were of no use a-flight and might even become a detriment if trouble demanded swift maneuver. Then a regular patrol schedule was set up and alternately Lane and Thompson took to the sky to cover the area. The detectors were overhauled and stepped up to the theoretical limit of their efficiency, and couplers and fire-control systems were hooked in and calibrated. It took nine days by the clock to get the camp set up, and Downing's flight was almost recharged by the end of that time. As Thompson's flight went in for re-charge, Downing and Lane discussed the camp. "I say leave it here," said Lane. "Might be handy." "When?" "I don't have any real idea. But we've got one hundred and fifty extra dymodines planet-mounted down there. I say leave it there until we get this problem off our chest." "Expect trouble?" scoffed Downing. Lane nodded. "I expect this to end in a running fight with one of the two of us making a blind but accurate stab in the dark and getting that machine the Little Man talks about. If the going gets tough, we can hole out here for some time with the solar collectors running the planet mounts." "Wonder why the cat race hasn't come up," mused Downing. "It isn't sensible to permit any alien to establish a planethead in your system." "They might not even know." "Unlikely." "Look, though," offered Lane, "we came in sunward, almost scorching our tails. The solar centroid of interference might make any flight detection undistinguishable from background noise." "Yeah? Remember that we came in over the edge of the sun from _somewhere_. We were out in space mostly." "Then you answer it--you asked it!" * * * * *