y
work out his final calculations. The ship, traveling at a rate of six
thousand miles an hour, would miss their little sphere by about a
hundred miles. The ship was probably a slow speed freighter, a guess
that was supported by the lack of port-holes in the hull.

It was a ticklish task that Winford faced. He could either approach the
freighter from against the sun, trusting that the navigation officer on
duty would fail to notice the dark blot of the little tender against the
blinding glare. Or he could get on the far side of the ship and approach
it, concealed by its black shadow. He decided on the latter plan.

The freighter was coming up fast. Winford eased the accelerator open,
and moved off at right angles to its line of progress to place it
between him and the sun. If the officer in charge of the freighter
should see the tiny dot go shooting presently across his path, he would
doubtless mistake it for a wandering meteor. As soon as he crossed the
path of the big ship, Winford slowly turned his little craft toward the
protecting shadow of his prospective victim, and picked up speed as
quickly as he dared until the little tender was traveling at the same
speed as the freighter. Lucky it was for him that the big craft was not
a mail liner, for if it had been, the little ball could never have
gained speed enough to equal it.

The shadow of the freighter presently enveloped the little ship, and the
two hung side by side. Winford eased the tender in toward the big craft,
fully realizing that the meteor warning dial in the control room of the
freighter would hint at his presence by its pronounced fluctuation. But
there was no help for it; he could only take the chance that the
navigator in charge would not investigate. Winford peered up anxiously
at the windows of the control room. Apparently the little craft had not
yet been discovered.

* * * * *

Less than a hundred yards now separated the two craft. Winford flashed
his signal to the air-lock. A moment later a dark blob that shut off the
light of the stars in depths below floated across the gap from the
tender to the freighter. The electric meter on the control board
registered a sudden fluctuation as the electro-magnet anchor attached
itself to the hull of the big ship.

Winford snapped off the propulsion beams, seized two ray pistols that
lay on the chart table, and ducked down the ladder. His companions were
standing before t