m to, but they failed to respond.

"Better leave them alone, Steve," said Walters. "We have to get a
medical officer for them. They look as if they've been bumped pretty
hard."

Strong stood up abruptly and walked over to Miles, who lounged casually
in his chair. Ignoring Walters, the Solar Guard captain stood in front
of the black-suited spaceman, his jaw within an inch of the other man's
face.

"If anything serious has happened to those two boys, Miles," he said in
a cold, flat voice, full of menace, "I'll tear you apart!"

Miles paled for an instant and then grinned uneasily. "Don't worry about
it, Strong. They're pretty tough kids."

Kit Barnard suddenly burst into the control room. "I've searched the
cargo holds, Commander," he said. "Nothing there but lead boxes. Didn't
find the boys--" Barnard stopped suddenly at the sight of the two
unconscious cadets. "Tom! Roger!" he cried.

"They were slugged, Kit," said Strong. "You go back to the _Polaris_ and
send out an emergency call. Find the closest ship with a medical
officer aboard and arrange for a meeting out here in space. We'll be
ready to blast in five minutes."

"O.K., Steve," replied Kit, turning to the door and then stopping to
glare at Miles. "And save a piece of that space rat for me!"

Under Barnard's steely look, Miles rose to his feet and stepped back
hesitantly. Then, suddenly, he jumped up on the chair, scrambled to the
top of the master control panel, and crouched there tensely.

Strong, Walters, and Kit were momentarily stunned by his strange action.
It seemed like a senseless and futile effort to get away. There was no
way Miles could get out of the control deck or off the ship.

Beyond the reach of anyone on the control deck, Miles began to laugh.

Walters turned beet red with anger. "This is stupid, Miles!" he roared.
"You can't get away and you know it!"

"That all depends on where you're standing, Walters!" said a voice from
the hatch.

The three spacemen whirled at the sound of the voice and were dumfounded
by the appearance of Quent Miles, standing to one side of the hatch,
holding an automatic paralo-ray rifle, trained on them.

"Stay right where you are," he said softly. "The first man that moves
gets frozen solid!"

Walters, Strong, and Kit were too stunned to make a move. They could
only stare in open disbelief at Quent Miles.

"Come on down, Ross!" called Quent. "And if anyone tries to stop him,
I'll let all three of y