There were three more sessions of the cat-and-mouse trick, separated by hour intervals. Then the six catmen, their nature satisfied, took hold of Lane's ship in a cluster of snatcher beams. Lane heard the plates give as the fields-of-focus closed down. He closed his eyes, breathed a short prayer, and waited. * * * * * Stellor Downing called Thompson. "Back to One," he said. "Giving up?" "Can you think of anything to do?" "No." "Well, let's get back where we can plan." Thompson assented. It was reluctant, however, and a day later, when they landed on One at their camp, he faced Downing. "Sort of solves your problem, doesn't it?" "Look," snapped Stellor Downing. "I've got a few feelings and a number of nerves. Lane and I were not deeply in love with one another. Yes, it solves a lot of problems, Thompson, but don't taunt me about it, or I'll take a modine to your throat, see?" "We might have tried again," insisted Thompson. "We might have tried for a month. We couldn't even touch them. If you're intimating that I gave up quick--?" "You weren't leaning over backwards." "Quoting an old, famous fable, 'sometimes it is better to fall flat on your face.'" "Meaning?" "We've got whole skins. They were after captives, not meat. They wanted the same thing we do but they got 'em first." "So?" "So we take whatever wave analysis we have and try to figure 'em out. If we can reproduce any of that stuff, we'll go back." "Hm-m-m." "Look, Thompson, as far as this job is concerned, your job of keeping Lane and myself out of one another's hair is over. One head of hair is gone, see." "And what do you intend to do about it?" "I intend to carry on. Now forget about the fact that a personal grudge of mine has been taken out of my hands and let's get on to working out some means of fighting back. Lane is gone. I'm trying not to gloat. But you're not helping. So stop it." * * * * * Toralen Ki shook his head in a worried manner. "One is gone." "A substitute?" "I fear that any substitute may not be as good." "Nonsense, Toralen. Were there a better man than either, we'd have selected him; if either had not existed, a lesser man would have sufficed." "The right kind is so very few," complained Toralen Ki. "We can find one. We will have to return to their planet to do so, and it will be harder for us--but it can be done. No good general has only one plan of battle." "But so much depends--Ah well, despair is the product of the inferior intellect. We will, we must carry on." Hotang Lu opened his large case. "I will contact our superiors immediately and ask their advice." "Yes," nodded Toralen Ki. "Also ask them if they have the answer to the less-sensitive detector, yet." Hotang turned the communicator on and waited for it to warm up. His hand dropped into the case and came up with another small instrument of extreme complexity.