Maybe it was, but I like pilots who are lucky that way.

In the midst of a dizzy, fluttering maneuver of our own, with the Han
ship enlarging to our gaze with terrifying rapidity, and its beam slowly
slicing toward us in what looked like certain destruction within the
second, I saw Gibbons' fingers flick at the lever of his rocket gun and
a split second later the Han ship flew apart like a clay pigeon.

We staggered, and fluttered crazily for several moments while Gibbons
struggled to bring our ship into balance, and a section of about four
square feet in the side of the ship near the stern slowly crumbled like
rusted metal. His beam actually had touched us, but our explosive rocket
had got him a thousandth of a second sooner.

Part of our rudder had been annihilated, and our motor damaged. But we
were able to swoop gently back across Jersey, fortunately crossing the
ship lanes without sighting any more Han craft, and finally settling to
rest in the little glade beneath the trees, near Hart's camp.

CHAPTER XI

The New Boss

We had ultrophoned our arrival and the Big Boss himself, surrounded by
the Council, was on hand to welcome us and learn our news. In turn we
were informed that during the night a band of raiding Bad Bloods,
disguised under the insignia of the Altoonas, a gang some distance to
the west of us, had destroyed several of our camps before our people had
rallied and driven them off. Their purpose, evidently, had been to
embroil us with the Altoonas, but fortunately, one of our exchanges
recognized the Bad Blood leader, who had been slain.

The Big Boss had mobilized the full raiding force of the Gang, and was
on the point of heading an expedition for the extermination of the Bad
Bloods.

I looked around the grim circle of the sub-bosses, and realized the fate
of America, at this moment, lay in their hands. Their temper demanded
the immediate expenditure of our full effort in revenging ourselves for
this raid. But the strategic exigencies, to my mind, quite clearly
demanded the instant and absolute extermination of the Sinsings. It
might be only a matter of hours, for all we knew, before these degraded
people would barter clues to the American ultronic secrets to the Hans.

"How large a force have we?" I asked Hart.

"Every man and maid who can be spared," he replied. "That gives us seven
hundred married and unmarried men, and three hundred girls, more than
the entire Bad Blood Gang. Eve