ntly meaning something
like professor, or 'First Student of.' Those next him are Zezdon Afthen
of Physics and Zezdon Inthel of Chemistry."

Zezdon Afthen offered them the headsets, and in a moment everyone
present was wearing one. The process of putting them _en rapport_ took
very little time, and shortly all were able to communicate with ease.

"Friends of Earth, we must tell our strange story quickly for the
benefit of your world as well as ours, and others, too. We cannot so
much as annoy. We are helpless to combat them.

"Our world lies far out across the galaxy; even with incalculable
velocity of the great swift thing that bore us, three long months have
we traveled toward your distant worlds, hoping that at last the Invaders
might meet their masters.

"We landed on this roof because we examined mentally the knowledge of a
pilot of one of your patrol ships. His mind told us that here we would
find the three greatest students of Science of this Solar System. So it
was here we came for help.

"Our race has arisen," he continued, "as you have so surely determined
from the race you call canines. It was artificially produced by the
Ancient Masters when their hour of need had come. We have lost the great
science of the Ancient Ones. But we have developed a different science,
a science of the mind."

"Dogs are far more psychic than are men. They would naturally tend to
develop such a civilization," said Arcot judiciously.

Chapter III

A QUARTER OF A MILLION LIGHT YEARS

"Our civilization," continued Zezdon Afthen, "is built largely on the
knowledge of the mind. We cannot have criminals, for the man who plots
evil is surely found out by his thoughts. We cannot have lying
politicians and unjust rulers.

"It is a peaceful civilization. The Ancient Masters feared and hated War
with a mighty aversion. But they did not make our race cowards, merely
peaceful intelligence. Now we must fight for our homes, and my race will
fight mightily. But we need weapons.

"But my story has little to do with our race. I will tell the story of
our civilization and of the Ancient Ones later when the time is more
auspicious.

"Four months ago, our mental vibration instruments detected powerful
emanations from space. That could only mean that a new, highly
intelligent race had suddenly appeared within a billion miles of our
world. The directional devices quickly spotted it as emanating from the
third planet of our system.