had happened so far, had it? Peace in our time.

The trouble was, it took a psych man to realize the effect that losing the race would have on the people of Earth, and the human beings that Earth had scattered to the stars. And the farther Man spread, the worse that shock would be.

Parmay knew what it would be like, and Parmay didn't like it.

So his wife called him a fanatic. Well, perhaps he was, but he still didn't intend to let the race down by letting the aliens get too far ahead. Somewhere in the seven hundred million cubic light years that Man owned there must be traces of the alien, and Parmay was going to find them if he could.

The Thirty-six lifted herself off Earth only a shade less than an hour after Romm Parmay came aboard. Once in free fall beyond the moon, her nose was aimed at the approximate area of her destination: D 38° 40', RA 17h-4m. Then, gently and easily, the Hypersee Ship-36 slid out of normal space-time.

Commander Tallen was watching a communicator screen when Parmay entered the Main Control Salon.

Parmay groaned in mock despair. "Every time I walk into a place where there's a communicator, somebody's got their eyes glued to it. Why?"

Tallen turned. "I like to watch Junior, here. He scares me."

The face of an alien squirmed nastily on the plate.

"Why watch him, then?"

"I guess I'm like the little boy who banged his head against the wall because it felt so good when he stopped."

"Really?"

Tallen laughed. "No, not really. I keep watching because I keep hoping I'll run across something that will give me a clue about them. I know experts have tried and failed, but I like to think that they might have been too close to the trees to see the forest, if you know what I mean."

"I'm glad," said Parmay frankly, "that someone besides me worries about them."

"Smoke?" asked Tallen, holding out his case.

"Thanks, no."

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