"I know that. But I will be with you in spirit all the time. How are you going to land on this world?"
"Board my nimble pursuit ship, come in straight and fast behind a radar screen, zing down into the atmosphere—"
"And get blasted into your component atoms. Here, read this report by the survivor of the last ship to try this approach."
I read it. It was most depressing. I threw it back with the others.
"I heed the warning. This planet appears to be militarized to the hilt. I'll bet even the house pets wear uniforms. Bulling in like that is approaching these people on their own terms, competing in the area where they are best organized. What they are not organized against is a little bit of guile, some larceny, a smooth approach covering a devious attack. Insinuate, penetrate, operate and extirpate."
"All at once I am beginning not to like it," my love said, frowning. "You will take care of yourself, Jim? I don't think worrying would be good for me right now."
"If you wish to worry, worry about the fate of this poor planet with Slippery Jim unleashed against them. Their conquests are at an end, they are as good as finished."
I kissed her resoundingly and walked out, head high and shoulders back.
Wishing that I was one tenth as sure of myself as I had acted. This was going to be a very rough one.