live. There was much
civil war. The plight of the children of men was desperate. Something
had to be done.

[Illustration]

Then Sarka the Third called the Spokesmen of the Gens of Earth around
him, and proposed to them a new scheme which had come to him in his
laboratory atop the Himalayas. He would swing the Earth from its
orbit!--send it careening through space toward the Moon!--there to
destroy its inhabitants and supplant them with a colony of Earthlings!
And then they would surge on to Mars!

One by one the twelve Spokesmen, each the head and representative of
the teeming trillions comprising his Gens, acceded. Even Dalis, the
jealous rival of Sarka, finally gave his sulky consent.

So, under Sarka's commands, the Earth's hordes were mobilized; and in
tune with the Master Beryl in Sarka's laboratory all the Beryls of the
Earth vibrated, freeing the Earth from her age-old orbit and swinging
her out towards the Moon.

The Gens of Dalis--the trillions of people who swore allegiance to
him--would lead the attack on the Moon. When within fifty thousand
miles, they darted out, clad only in their tight green clothing and
the helmets that held the anti-gravitational ovoids, which
neutralized gravity for them and enabled them to instantly fly where
they willed. Their only weapons were hand atom-disintegrators. And out
from the Moon came mysterious aircars, with long clutching
tentacles--the weapons of the Moon's minions! The war of the worlds
was begun!

Yet Dalis, leader of the Gens that now engaged the Moon's aircars, was
still in the laboratory with Sarka. For Dalis' treacherous mind
coveted control of the Earth, and though the urge to lead his Gens
into battle was tremendous, still he stayed, watching Sarka closely,
waiting for the moment when he could trick Sarka and assume control.

And at the head of the Gens of Dalis was a woman, Jaska, whom Sarka
loved. The Moon's aircars swept away the Gens of Dalis, and out from
Earth poured the Gens of Cleric, who was Jaska's father. The newcomers
fought desperately to save Jaska from the deadly clutches of the
aircars.

Dalis could stand it no longer. He sped forth from the laboratory, to
reorganize his beaten Gens. Jaska flew for home; but behind her a
single aircar, splashed with crimson, reached forth its tentacles to
clutch her--and Sarka groaned with the agony of his impotence to help
the woman he loved.

CHAPTER XI

_Escape--and Dalis' Laughter_

But