"They're crazy!" said Maril vehemently. "They knew Weald would do
something monstrous sooner or later. But they're going to try to stop
it by being more monstrous sooner! Not everybody agrees, but there are
enough. So they want to use your ship--it's faster in overdrive and so
on. And they'll go to Weald in this ship and--they say they'll give
Weald something to keep it busy without bothering us!"

Calhoun said dryly, "This pays me off for being too sympathetic with
blueskins! But if I'd been hungry for a couple of years, and was
despised to boot by the people who kept me hungry, I suppose I might
react the same way. No," he said curtly as she opened her lips to
speak again, "don't tell me the trick. Considering everything, there's
only one trick it could be. But I doubt profoundly that it would work.
All right."

He slid the door back and returned to the control room. Maril followed
him. He said detachedly, "I've been working on a problem outside of
the food one. It isn't the time to talk about it right now, but I
think I've solved it."

Maril turned her head, listening. There were footsteps on the tarmac
outside the ship. Both doors of the airlock were open. Four men came
in. They were young men who did not look quite as hungry as most
Darians, but there was a reason for that. Their leader introduced
himself and the others. They were the astrogators of the ship Dara had
built to try to bring food from Orede. They were not, said their
self-appointed leader, good enough. They'd overshot their
destination. They came out of overdrive too far off line. They needed
instruction.