ter the other, into
place with a hiss; the rows of gravity plates in the ship's belly
angled ever so slightly. She quivered, then, in a surge of power,
lifted straight up and poised; then, answering the touch of
space-stick and accelerator, she went streaking through the atmosphere
on the trail of the distant craft that had left its mark of blood on
Iapetus and provoked the vengeance of the Hawk....

CHAPTER III

_Death Rides the Star Devil_

Usually, when pursuing an enemy, Hawk Carse was impassive and grim,
apparently emotionless, icy. But now he seemed somehow disturbed.

He fidgeted around, glancing occasionally at the visi-screen to make
sure his quarry was not changing course, now watching Friday juggle
through the skin of atmosphere into outer space, and now standing
apart, silent and solitary, brooding.

There was something about the affair he didn't like. Something that
was deeply hidden, that could not be grasped clearly; that might, on
the other hand, be pure imagination. And yet, why--

Why, for instance, had the brigands taken to their heels with just the
barest semblance of fight? Why, with their defensive ray-web proof for
some time at least against his offensive rays, had they left without
more of a struggle for the horn? Why were they so willing to flee,
knowing as they must that he, the Hawk, would follow? Did they not
know he had--thanks to Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow--the fastest
ship in space, and would inevitably overtake them?

Were they Ku Sui's men? It seemed so, certainly, from the great
strength of their defensive ray-web. No other ships that he knew of in
space save Ku Sui's possessed such power. But--it wasn't the brilliant
Eurasian's customary style. It was too simple for him.

Carse stroked his bangs. The factors were all mixed up. He didn't like
it.

Iapetus' atmosphere was left behind; in minutes the light blue wash of
her sky changed to the hard, frigid blackness of lifeless space. The
_Star Devil's_ lighting tubes glowed softly, though Saturn's rays,
coming through the wide bow windows, still lit every object in the
control cabin with hard and dazzling brilliancy. Inside, light and
color, life and action; outside, the eternal, sable void, sprinkled
with its millions of sparkling motes of worlds. And ahead--shown now
on the visa-screen only by the light dots of its ports--was the
brigand craft.

The _Star Devil_ was smoothly building up the speed that would
eve