would go through the last one. It
was still hundreds of miles ahead but at the rate they were travelling they
would be on it soon.

He waited until the last possible second and then cut his speed sharply.
Behind them the other ships were forced to use their retarding rockets for
fear of ramming them. It was just what Ben had expected. As the last lock
opened he threw the accelerator all the way forward and felt the ship leap
ahead.

That alone would not have been enough, but as the ship roared out of the
tube above the surface of Teris he cut sharply to the right. Had their ship
been faster it might have worked. But it was not fast enough. Through the
blackness of space the exhausts of their pursuers flamed closer. Ben's
teeth clamped down on his lips.

"I guess we're out of luck."

There was nothing more to say. It was only a matter of minutes before the
guns of the ships behind them would blast them to pieces. They held their
breath and waited, watching the exhausts come through the darkness.

And then suddenly there was no more darkness. A light as bright as the noon
sun flared. Ben let out a shout, for beyond the light were lined the battle
cruisers of Earth. His pursuers turned tail and ran.

"Where the devil did those ships come from?" Davies gasped.

"I sent for them," Ben told him. "We had it all arranged. When I tackled
that double I managed to slip a microfilm capsule into his pocket. It had a
complete picture of my radona chart. As soon as the double reached Earth,
Intelligence grabbed him. All they had to do was follow my chart to Teris."

They were passing the flagship of the Earth fleet, and Ben dipped the nose
of his ship in salute. Then he turned to see what was going on.

There was going to be no attempt to invade Teris. Instead, its surface was
illuminated with more of the flares. A moment later Teris was gone, blasted
by the guns of a thousand cruisers. And for the strange women who would
have enslaved a universe, Ben felt no pity.

THE END

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

The sentence on Page 61: "It was that department's job to take the ship
apart, fix what needed fixing, and put it." is exactly as it appears in
the original.

On Page 62, in "Once Jacobs' interest was aroused he was also not one to
let a matter drop;" the original had "Jacob's".

End of Project Gutenberg's Daughters of Doom, by Herbert B. Livingston

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