d here!"

"What in blazes do you think I am, man!" roared Connel as he lunged for
the door and stepped out onto the porch. The men were within a hundred
feet of the porch when they saw Connel. The Solar Guard officer spread
his legs and stuck out his jaw, his paralo-ray gun leveled. "The first
one of you tin soldiers that puts a foot on these steps gets frozen
stiffer than a snowball on Pluto! Now stand where you are, state your
business, and then _blast off_!"

"Halt!" The leader of the column of men held up his hand. Connel saw
that the plastic helmets were frosted over, except for a clear band
across the eye level. All of the faces were hidden. The leader stepped
forward, his hand on his paralo-ray gun. "Greetings, Major Connel."

Connel snorted. "If you'd take off that Halloween mask, I might know who
I'm talking to!"

"My name is Hilmarc."

"Hilmarc?"

"Yes. I am the leader of this detachment."

"Leader, huh?" grunted Connel. "Leader of what? A bunch of little tin
soldiers?"

"You shall see, Major." Hilmarc's voice was low and threatening.

"I'm going to count to five," announced Connel grimly, lifting his
paralo-ray gun, "and if you and your playmates aren't back in your
ships, I start blasting."

"That would be unwise," replied Hilmarc. "Your one gun against all of
ours."

Connel grinned. "I know. It's going to be a whale of a fight, isn't it?"
Then, without pause, he shouted, "_One--two--three--four--five!_"

He opened fire, squeezing the trigger rapidly. The first row of
green-clad men were immediately frozen. Dropping to one knee, the
spaceman again opened fire, and men in the second row stiffened as they
tried to return the fire.

"Fire! Cut him down!" roared Hilmarc frantically.

[Illustration]

The men broke ranks and the area in front of Sinclair's house crackled
with paralo-ray gunfire. Darting behind a chair, Connel dropped to the
floor, his gun growing hot under the continuous discharge of paralyzing
energy. In a matter of moments the Solar Guard officer had frozen nearly
half of the attacking troop, their bodies scattered in various
positions. Suddenly his gun spit fire and began to smoke. The energy
charge was exhausted. Connel jumped to his feet and snapped to
attention. He knew from experience that if being hit was inevitable, the
best way to receive the charge was by standing at attention, taking the
strain off the heart. He faced the clearing and a dozen shots of
paralyzing en