"We cannot fight," Antaran said. "Not now.... We must be patient a while longer. Venus still holds the secret of Vulcan base and without allotropic metal our fleet would be so much papier mache!" He fell silent. In the soft, smoky-blue twilight of the great subterranean room beneath the Universarium, Bill Nardon gazed expressionlessly at the angular austerity of the Council Leader's face, and remained silent. "Three more spacers today!" Antaran sank slowly into the yielding firmness of a pricele