one man at the control lever of the stern
rocket-motors. As he turned away from the control board he saw Lura
standing quietly in a corner. He opened his arms and she ran to them
with a cry of joy.

"Oh, Damis, I was so afraid for you," she gasped, "and I wanted to hug
you when you jumped in and Father closed the lock behind you but I knew
that you had to take care of the ship. Were you hurt at all?"

"Not a bit, darling," he assured her, "but it was touch and go for a
moment. I didn't know whether the guards would dare to disintegrate the
ship without orders from Glavour. In any event, the blasts of the stern
motors must have hurled them half a mile. No strength could stand the
blast of gas to which they were subjected. Are you all right?"

"Perfectly," she replied; "I never was in any danger. I was the first
one in the ship and the only chance I had to be hurt was to have you
overcome and the ship recaptured. In that case, I had this."

She displayed a small dagger which she drew from the bosom of her robe.
Damis shuddered and took the weapon from her.

"Poisoned," he exclaimed as he glanced at its tip. "You had better let
me take care of it. You might fall and prick yourself with it."

She surrendered the weapon to him with a smile and Damis placed it in a
cabinet built against the wall of the flyer.

"Now go in and lie down," he told her. "I've got to start plotting a
course to Mars and teaching my crew how to operate the ship."

"Can't I learn, too?" she objected. "If anything should happen, it might
be quite a useful bit of knowledge. Besides, I already understand
celestial geography quite well and I may be able to help in the
navigation."

Damis looked at her in surprise.

"You a celestial geographer?" he asked in astonishment. "Where did you
learn it?"

"From my father. He was a famous heaven-master before the Jovians came
and he taught me."

"That's excellent!" cried Damis. "I didn't realize we had so much
knowledge at our command. Turgan, will you take charge of the navigating
after I plot a course? Lura can assist you. Now, the rest of you attend
to my words and I'll teach you how to operate the rocket motors."

* * * * *

The Jovian ship was built along very simple lines. Batteries of rocket
motors at the bow and stern and on each of the sides furnished both
motive and steering power. The Terrestrials were all chosen men and in
three hours Damis an