"I won't argue that point. But I want you to know the words weren't wasted." He took her hand. "It was something I've had in mind a long time." Abruptly he realized the MA was no longer chipping away at the cave entrance. When he looked up, the robot was withdrawing toward a mound of tumbled boulders perhaps a hundred yards off. He slumped down beside Carol, his sense of relief dulled by renewed concern over the nightmares. Had _everything_ in his subconscious come to the surface? Could there be more? Carol gripped his arm and he looked off in the direction of her extended finger. Seeping in through the entrance, the gathering light of day was dimmed by a dark form descending silently to the surface. He lunged up. "The Tzarean ship!" But it wasn't until several seconds later that he realized he had used two _clicks_ of his teeth and a _hiss_ to pronounce the strange word between "the" and "ship." * * * * * Chancellor Vrausot was even more imposing in his home-environment suit. The helmet made his head seem twice as large and the clear-plastic snout cup enormously magnified his craggy teeth. Just inside the main hatch, Assemblyman Mittich regarded the other and swallowed a strong taste of neglected opportunity. He had soaked awake all night, trying desperately to muster the will to accuse Vrausot of malfeasance and assume command. But he had to face the bitter fact that he lacked sufficient courage. And, even more distressing, his cowardice was something he would have to live with for the rest of his life--as he watched the destruction of many worlds and billions of their inhabitants. Odd, he thought, how so much could hinge on a single twist of circumstance. Vrausot would return to the Shoal and become a symbol around which Tzarean determination would rally. On the other hand, if he, Mittich, were leader of this expedition, he too would receive a hero's welcome. Only, his praises would be hissed in the same breath with glorious tribute to the concepts of peaceful contact. Vrausot turned to check the readiness of his landing party. "All stun weapons loaded and set?" he asked, his voice sounding coarse both in Mittich's earphones and through a bulkhead speaker. He received twenty affirmative tail flicks. Of the pilot, standing by the hatch control switch, he demanded: "Status of the aliens' robots?" "They are _all_ impotent," Kavula reported back into the bulkhead speaker. "The last one used up its remaining power as we descended." Vrausot stepped toward the hatch, but hesitated again. "Kavula, you will double check the detention compartment and see that the proper protein nutrient is being synthesized." The pilot acknowledged with a thump of his tail and opened the hatch.