A handsome Federation spaceman with a mustache, the first Rip had ever seen, stepped into the room from a passageway on the opposite side. The spaceman bowed with exquisite grace. "I have the honor of making myself known," he proclaimed. "Commander Rémy Galliene of the _Sagittarius_." The Connie commander grunted. He was afraid, Rip realized. The Connie suspected a trick, and he had no idea of what it might be. Rip looked him over with interest. This was the man who had been willing to burn his own spacemen back at the asteroid belt. Galliene saw Rip’s black uniform and hurried to shake his hand. "So this is the young lieutenant who is responsible! Lieutenant, today the spacemen honor the Planeteers because of you. Most days we fight each other, but today we fight together, eh? I am glad to meet you!" "And I’m glad to meet you, sir," Rip returned. He liked the twinkle in the Frenchman’s eye. He would have given a lot to know what scheme Galliene and MacFife had cooked up. The Connie had overheard Galliene’s greeting. He glared at Rip. The Frenchman saw the look and smiled happily. "Ah, you do not know each other? Commander, I have the honor to make known Lieutenant Foster of the Federation Special Order Squadrons. He is in command on the asteroid." The Connie blurted, "So! I send boats to help you and you fire on them!" So that was to be the Consops story! Rip thought quickly, then held up his hand in a shocked gesture that would have done credit to the Frenchman. "Oh, no, Commander! You misunderstand. We had no way of communicating by radio, so I did the only thing we could do. I fired rockets as a warning. We didn’t want your boats to get caught in a nuclear explosion." He shrugged. "It was very unlucky for us that the sun threw my gunner’s aim off and he hit your boats, quite by accident." MacFife coughed to cover up a chuckle. Galliene hid a smile by stroking his mustache. The Connie commander growled, "And I suppose it was accident that you took my men prisoner?" "Prisoner?" Rip looked bewildered. "We took no prisoners. When your boats arrived, the men asked if they might not join us. They claimed refuge, which we had to give them under interplanetary law." "I will take them back," the Connie stated. "You will not," Galliene replied with equal positiveness. "The law is very clear, my friend. Your men may return willingly, but you cannot force them. When we reach Terra we will give them a choice. Those who wish to return to the Consolidation will be given transportation to the nearest border." The Connie commander motioned to a heavily armed officer. "Take their instruments. Check them quickly." He put his lips together in a straight line and stared at the Federation men. They stared back with equal coldness. Around them, Connie spacemen with wooden, expressionless faces waited without moving. The minutes ticked by. Rip wondered again what kind of plan MacFife and Galliene had. When would the excitement start?