e won't stay here to be
killed as his proxy! Not without fighting first!"

A voice, crisp: "_Target globe launched, sir._"

"Low-power overdrive toward the gas-giant planet. One-twentieth second.
Five, four, three, two, one!"

There was the unbearable double sensation of going into, and breakout
from, overdrive simultaneously. The _Liberty_ vanished from its place in
the formation of the dummy fleet, but left a metal-foil dummy where it
had been. It reappeared a full five thousand miles away.

The rushing missiles now were brighter. They were individual,
microscopic specks like stars. They began visibly to converge upon the
space occupied by the dummy fleet.

"They'll be counting the ships," said the Pretender mildly, "to make
sure that all stay for their execution. This would be a tragic sight if
it were Humphrey's real fleet. He is just obstinate enough to let
himself be killed, on the word of a treacherous Mekinese!"

The cloud of radar-blips grew bright and came near. The dummy fleet also
appeared on the screens in the _Liberty's_ control room. Bors and the
others could see the rushing, shining flood of missiles as it poured
through space upon the motionless targets.

"There!" Bors pointed. "The king's ship's breaking out! Away over at the
edge. I wonder if the Mekinese will notice!"

There were very tiny sparkles off at the side of the radar-screen. They
increased in number.

There was a flash, like the sun brought near for the tenth of a second.
Another. Yet another. Then an overwhelming spout of brilliance as tens
and twenties and fifties of the trajectiles went off together. It was an
unbelievable sight against the stars. Missiles flamed and flashed and
there seemed to be an actual sun there, now flashing brighter and now
fainter, but intolerably hot and shining.

It went out, and left a vague and shining vapor behind. Then, belated
missiles entered it and detonated. Their flares ceased. Then there was
nothing where there had seemed to be a fleet.

"Which," said Bors, "is that!"

Then a voice spoke coldly from space.

"_Connect all speakers for a message in clear_," it commanded. "_Alert
all personnel for a general order._"

There was a pause. The voice spoke again.

"_Spacemen of Mekin_," it said icily. "_The fleet of Kandar is now
destroyed. Kandar itself will be destroyed also as an example of the
consequences of perfidy toward Mekin. But it should be a warning to
others who would conspire