anything to say about this. I'll rule the Solar System the
way I want to. There won't be anyone else who'll have a thing to say
about it. So you dreamed of empire, did you? You dreamed of a solar
dictatorship. Well, watch me! I'll build a real empire. But I'll be the
head of it ... not you."

Craven sat down in his chair, crossed his knees. "Just what do you plan
to do, Dictator Stutsman?"

* * * * *

Stutsman fairly foamed at the mouth over the insolence of Craven's
voice. "I'll smash Manning first. I'll wipe him out. This ship will do
it. You said yourself it would. You have ten times the power he has. And
then ..."

Craven raised a hand and waved him into silence. "So you plan to reach
the Solar System, do you? You plan to meet Manning, and destroy his
ship. Nice plan."

"What's wrong with it?" challenged Stutsman.

"Nothing," said Craven calmly. "Absolutely nothing at all ... _except
that we may never reach the Solar System_!"

Stutsman seemed to sag. The wolfish snarl on his lips drooped. His eyes
stared. Then with an effort he braced himself.

"What do you mean? Why can't we?" He gestured toward the vision plate,
toward the tiny yellow star between the two brighter stars.

"That," said Craven, "isn't our Sun. It has planets, but it isn't our
Sun."

Chambers stepped quickly to Craven, reached out a hand and hoisted him
from the chair, shook him.

"You must be joking! That has to be the Sun!"

Craven shrugged free of Chambers' clutch, spoke in an even voice. "I
never joke. We made a mistake, that's all. I hadn't meant to tell you
yet. I had intended to get in close to the star and take on a full load
of power and then try to locate our Sun. But I'm afraid it's a hopeless
task."

"A hopeless task?" shrieked Stutsman. "You are trying to trick me. This
is put up between the two of you. That's the Sun over there. I know it
is!"

"It isn't," said Craven. "Manning tricked us. He started off in the
wrong direction. He made us think he was going straight back to the
Solar System, but he didn't. He circled and went in some other
direction."

The scientist eyed Stutsman calmly. Stutsman's knuckles were white with
the grip he had upon the gun.

"We're lost," Craven told him, looking squarely at him. "We may never
find the Solar System!"

_CHAPTER TWENTY_

The revolution was over. Interplanetary officials and army heads had
fled to the sanctuary of Earth. Interpla