 A tiny, black, bulbous robot floated in space between two spaceships, ours and theirs. It represented a culture, theirs, which was at least up to ours. Now our two races could be friends. We could also be deadly enemies. We were a monstrous menace to them and they to us. And the only safe thing to do with a menace is, of course, to destroy it. This truce, weeks and weeks,