the negatron, it made space
flight, if not a first-class insurance risk, at least fairly safe.--Ed.]

The oncoming ship had been a dot in the sky. Now it was a round ball.

"Try them on the radio," Hargraves said. "They probably won't understand
us but at least they will know we're trying to communicate with them."

There was a swirl of action at the radio panel.

"No answer," the radio operator said.

"Keep trying."

"Look!" Nielson shouted. "They've changed course. They're coming
straight toward us."

The ball had bobbled in its smooth flight. As though caught in the
attraction of a magnet it was coming straight toward them.

For an instant, Hargraves stared. Should he run or should he wait? He
didn't want to run and he didn't want to fight. On the other hand, he
did not want to take chances with the safety of the men under his
command.

His mission was peaceful. Entirely so. But the ball was driving straight
toward them. How big it was he could not estimate. It wasn't very big.
Oddly, it presented a completely blank surface. No ports. And, so far as
he could tell, there was no discharge from driving engines. The latter
meant nothing. Their own ship showed no discharge from the Kruchek
drivers. But no ports--

It came so fast he couldn't see it come. The flash of light! It came
from the ball. For the fractional part of a second, the defense screen
twinkled where the flash of light hit it. But--the defense screen was
not designed to turn light or any other form of radiation. The light
came through. It wasn't light. It carried a component of visible
radiation but it wasn't light. The beam struck the earth ship.

_Clang!_

* * * * *

From the stern came a sudden scream of tortured metal. The ship rocked,
careened, tried to spin on its axis. On the control panels, a dozen red
lights flashed, winked off, winked on again. Heavy thuds echoed through
the vessel. Emergency compartments closing.

Hargraves hesitated no longer.

"Full speed ahead!" he shouted at Red Nielson.

"Ron Val. Fire!"

This was an attack. This was a savage, vicious attack, delivered without
warning, with no attempt to parley. The ship had been hit. How badly it
had been damaged he did not know. But unless the damage was too heavy
they could outrun this ball, flash away from it faster than light,
disappear in the sky, vanish. The ship had legs to run. There was no
limit to her speed. She could go fast,