Fringe Of Battle

A Commonwealth naval ship approaches Muddlin' Through:

"She could not draw near enough on this pass ever to show to the unaided eye as a black blade drawn over the Milky Way. But her weapons could span the gap."
-Mirkheim, VIII, p. 127.

Muddlehead evades and destroys a missile. The ship and its team are on the fringe of yet another convincingly described space battle.

When they were at Babur, Falkayn said:

"'I hope you will regard us as ambassadors of a sort...'" (V, p. 88)

and thought:

"...who double in espionage if they get the chance." (ibid.)

The story demonstrates that, even without stealing secrets, ambassadors spy simply by observing, noticing and reporting back.