"Pretty confident your man will win, eh?"

"Most assuredly," said Brett with elaborate sarcasm. "I would never have
entered a ship in the race if I didn't think I would win. Though, in all
fairness, I think I should have received the contract to haul the
crystal without this extra effort."

"What kind of reactant is Quent Miles using in that ship of yours?"
asked Walters sharply.

Brett smiled. "The same as everyone else, Commander."

"What about your feeders?" asked Strong. "With ordinary reactant, and no
new cooling units aboard your ship, you must have oversized feeders to
make such fantastic speeds."

Brett shrugged and held out his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I
don't even know myself, Captain Strong," he said blandly. "It's one
reason why I have Quent Miles piloting for me. He has a few tricks that
apparently are quite effective."

"I hope they are legitimate tricks, Mr. Brett," said Walters. "Let's go,
Steve."

The three officers turned away and left Brett sitting there, smiling
triumphantly.

"I think we'd better start from the beginning in our inspection of the
screens, Captain Howard," said Walters, as the three officers left the
control tower and walked across the spaceport. "First of all, I want a