nother ship; and, from this other ship's nose there winked a
spot of green, the beginning of a ray-stream which stabbed across the
gulf to impinge on the _Star Devil's_ bow. Carse could feel his craft
steady as it struck. It was a gravital ray, with strong magnetic
properties, which Judd was using to stop her turnings so he and his
men could board!

* * * * *

Again and again the beam flashed across the Hawk's field of view, and
he knew it was raying its mark neatly each time her bow swung abeam,
for soon she was hardly turning at all. Then Judd evidently was
satisfied. The port-lights of his ship veered aside; drew to a
position abreast of the other. The two cold gray eyes that watched saw
the outer port-lock door of the pirate open, revealing six figures,
clad in space-suits and connected by a rope, that stepped out, pushed,
and came floating towards the _Star Devil_.

Swiftly Carse moved. For many reasons it was useless, he rapidly
decided, to try and surprise them as they boarded; there was a better
and surer way. And, as always, he attended to every little
detail--details that to others might have seemed trivial--of this
preferred way.

With quick, strong fingers he removed the fungus-choked body of
Harkness from its space-suit, and threw the suit into a nearby locker.
From another locker he selected a loop of yellow-encrusted rope.
Holding this over one arm, he made his way back rapidly to the aft
man-hole, closed it carefully behind him and crept forward to the
anxious negro who was still futilely dusting the plates. He told what
he had seen, but nothing else.

Friday noted the rope, and he twisted his whole body to get a sight of
Carse's gray eyes, through the face-shield.

"What we do, then, suh?" he asked. "Try an surprise 'em?"

"Can't do that; we'd still be helpless, without a way to remove this
fungus. They probably know how to do it, and we've got to give them a
chance."

Puzzlement pricked the negro. "Then what you goin' to do with that
rope?"

"You'll soon see," snapped Hawk Carse.

* * * * *

They waited.

It was hot and stuffy down in the belly of the ship, and also utterly
black, for the trader had flicked off his hand-flash. Friday was
unhappily possessed of an active curiosity; he wanted terribly to go
on with his questions and ask Carse what his plan was; but he did not
dare, for he knew very well from past experience th