Chapter 15. _Ice Cold on Oberon_

Nevertheless, from that point on, a different spirit seemed to animate everyone aboard the _Magellan_. There was the feeling that they had closed with the enemy and found themselves not wanting. There was the feeling that they possessed powers not inferior to those of their unknown enemies. The thought had been haunting them all along that they were in the position of a backward people facing an advanced invader--something like the problem of the Aztecs when faced with the gunpowder and armor of the conquistadors. …