They had talked for weeks about the enemy's telepathic range, but they always returned to it. As professional soldiers, they couldn't help but speculate on the enemy and his weapons. It was their shop talk. "Well," Morse said wearily, "Our Detector network covers the system out beyond Mars' orbit." "Where we sit," Cassel said, watching the indicators now that the others were talking. "They might not even know we have a detection unit working," Morse said, as he had said a thousand times. "Oh, stop," Edwardson said, his thin face twisted in scorn. "They're telepathic. They must have read every bit of stuff in Everset's mind." "Everset didn't know we had a detection unit," Morse said, his eyes returning to the dial. "He was captured before we had it." "Look," Edwardson said, "They ask him, 'Boy, what would you do if you knew a telepathic race was coming to take over Earth? How would you guard the planet?'" "Idle speculation," Cassel said. "Maybe Everset didn't think of this." "He thinks like a man, doesn't he? Everyone agreed on this defense. Everset would, too." "Syllogistic," Cassel murmured. "Very shaky." "I sure wish he hadn't been captured," Edwardson said. "It could have been worse," Morse put in, his face sadder than ever. "What if they'd captured _both_ of them?" "I wish they'd come," Edwardson said. * * * * * Richard Everset and C. R. Jones had gone on the first interstellar flight. They had found an inhabited planet in the region of Vega. The rest was standard procedure. A flip of the coin had decided it. Everset went down in the scouter, maintaining radio contact with Jones, in the ship. The recording of that contact was preserved for all Earth to hear. "Just met the natives," Everset said. "Funny-looking bunch. Give you the physical description later." "Are they trying to talk to you?" Jones asked, guiding the ship in a slow spiral over the planet. "No. Hold it. Well I'm damned! They're telepathic! How do you like that?" "Great," Jones said. "Go on." "Hold it. Say, Jonesy, I don't know as I like these boys. They haven't got nice minds. Brother!" "What is it?" Jones asked, lifting the ship a little higher. "Minds! These bastards are power-crazy. Seems they've hit all the systems around here, looking for someone to--" "Yeh?" "I've got that a bit wrong," Everset said pleasantly. "They are not so bad." Jones had a quick mind, a suspicious nature and good reflexes. He set the accelerator for all the G's he could take, lay down on the floor and said, "Tell me more." "Come on down," Everset said, in violation of every law of spaceflight. "These guys are all right. As a matter of fact, they're the most marvelous--" That was where the recording ended, because Jones was pinned to the floor by twenty G's acceleration as he boosted the ship to the level needed for the C-jump. He broke three ribs getting home, but he got there.