ere Venerians here, too, in
their protective suits, insulated against the cold of Earth, and against
its atmosphere.

"First, though, gentlemen, allow me to introduce Stel Felso Theu of the
planet Talso, one of our allies in this struggle, and Zezdon Afthen and
Fentes of Ortol, one of our other allies.

"As to progress, I can say only that it is in a more or less rudimentary
stage. We have the basis for great progress, a weapon of inestimable
value--but it is only the basis. It must be worked out. I am leaving
with you today the completed calculations and equations of the time
field, the system used by the Thessian invaders in propelling their
ships at a speed greater than that of light. Also, the uncompleted
calculations in regard to another matter, a weapon which our ally,
Talso, has given us, in exchange for the aid we gave in allowing them
the use of one of our generators. Unfortunately the ship could not spare
more than the single generator. I strongly advise rushing a number of
generators to Talso in intergalactic freighters. They badly need
power--power of respectable dimensions.

"I have stopped on Earth only temporarily, and I want to leave as soon
as possible. I intend, however, to attempt an attack on the Arctic base
of the Thessians, in strong hopes that they have not armored against one
weapon that the _Ancient Mariner_ carries--though I sadly fear that old
Earth herself has played us false here. I hope to use the magnetic beam,
but Earth's polar magnetism may have forced them to armor, and they may
have sufficiently heavy material to block the effects."

Morey already had a ground crew servicing the ship. He gave designs to
machinists on hand to make special control panels for the large
artificial matter machines. Arcot and Wade got some badly needed
equipment.

In six hours, Arcot had announced himself ready, and a squadron of
Planetary Guard ships were ready to accompany the refitted _Ancient
Mariner_.

They approached the pole cautiously, and were rewarded by the hiss and
roar of ice melting into water which burst into steam under a ray. It
was coming from an outpost of the camp, a tiny dome under a great mass
of ice. But the dome was of relux. A molecular reached down from a Guard
ship--and the Guard ship crumbled suddenly as dozens of moleculars from
the points hit it.

"They know how to fight this kind of a war. That's their biggest
advantage," muttered Arcot. Wade merely swore.

"Ray scre