nst the Moon?"

"Why not send the Gens of Gerd!" demanded Dalis. "He is the youngest of
the Spokesmen, and what better test is there for him than this?"

"It is because he is so young that we do not wish to send him," replied
Sarka coldly. "The colonization of the Moon by Earthlings requires the
guiding genius of a Spokesman who has the experience of a Dalis--or a
Sarka, else you would now be dead!"

"Then let it be a Sarka!" barked Dalis.

"Who, then, will control the further flight of the Earth?"

"You! Let your father lead my Gens against the Moon!"

"What will your Gens say, O Dalis? That their revered Spokesman feared
to lead them in person?"

"Enough of this squabbling," snapped Sarka the Second. "Do you not
realize that within a matter of hours, some Gens must be sent into
battle? Come with me to the Observatory, where you will be given
something beside squabbling with which to occupy your minds!"

* * * * *

Leaving the earth on its lonely flight through space, the three men
hurried to the Observatory, where they seated themselves before the
eye-pieces of the Micro-Telescopes, whose outer circles had been aimed
at the Moon.

For a moment the three stared breathlessly at the surface of this dead
sister of the Earth. They noted her valleys, her craters which seemed
bottomless, and saw that even as they watched, valleys and craters
became sharper of outline, proving that they were approaching the Moon
at a tremendous speed. It seemed, too, as though they were heading
toward sure collision, though Sarka the Second had said that they would
pass the Moon at a distance of fifty thousand miles.

"You will note activity at the very rims of the craters!" said the Elder
Sarka easily. "The craters are man-made, not volcanic, as some
scientists believe, and are shaped to converge the rays of the sun, as
our roof is created for the same purpose. But note the activity at the
rims of the craters!"

* * * * *

Closer the men peered, studying the rims as instructed by Sarka the
Second. All about them--and as they watched, activity became apparent on
the inner slopes of the craters--winged creatures seemed to be flying.
They looked like tiny oblate spheroids, and they were in swift action,
darting to and fro like bees which have been disturbed in their hives.

"Those spheres are of metal," said Sarka the Second, "and they are the
fighting Aircars of the