*

"You two march over there to the edge of the clearing," Captain Walls
ordered grimly, gesturing with his gun. "Anything you want to say
first, Kenniston?"

"Nothing that you would listen to or understand, you people,"
Kenniston answered dully. "No, I've got nothing to say."

A crackling voice came out of the dark jungle at that moment.

"_I_ have something to say! Drop those guns, every man of you, and get
your hands up!"

Walls spun around with an oath, levelling his atom-pistol. But out of
the jungle crashed a streak of fire that hit the captain's arm and
sent him reeling.

One of the girls screamed. Another of the _Sunsprite's_ crew had tried
to aim his weapon and had been cut down by a second bolt of atomic
fire that had hit his leg.

"I _don't_ want to kill you unless you force me to," came that crisp
voice from the darkness. "You have ten seconds to drop the guns."

"That's the chief, Kenniston!" yelled Holk Or excitedly. "It's John
Dark himself!"

The dreaded name of the pirate, a synonym for cold ruthlessness,
reinforced the threat from the darkness.

Murdock let his weapon fall and shouted, "Drop the atom-guns, men! If
we try to fight, the women will be hurt!"

The _Sunsprite's_ men dropped their atom-pistols. Instantly out into
the brilliant light from the jungle rushed a score of armed pirates.
Martians, Earthmen, Venusians and others--this horde represented the
criminal under-world of every planet in the System.

In a moment they had those in the clearing completely disarmed and
lined up against the ship. All except Holk Or, who was loudly greeting
his pirate comrades.

Kenniston saw John Dark coming across the moonslit clearing toward
them. The notorious pirate was a tall, bulky Earthman, but he walked
with the lightfootedness of a cat in his moonshoes. His black hair was
bare, and in the silver light his black-browed, intelligent face was
coldly calm as his eyes searched the row of prisoners.

"So you finally got here, Kenniston. What about the repair-equipment?"
he asked sharply.

Kenniston nodded toward the _Sunsprite_. "It's in the hold. We got
everything you listed."

"Good!" Dark approved. "We saw your ship crash-landing today, and
started this way at once. We've been beating through the jungle,
fighting off the damned Vestans, until we heard the uproar going on
here. What happened? Who are these people?"

Kenniston explained briefly how he had induced Gloria Loring's party