ed, and it rebounded
high into the air. Arcot, struggling against the weight of six
gravities, pulled shut the little control that had sent those mighty
torches blasting out. An instant later they sped away lest the plane
shoot toward the gas columns.

From a safe distance they looked back at their work. No longer was the
mighty plane unscathed, invulnerable, for now in its top gaped six great
craters of incandescent metal that almost touched and coalesced. The
great plane itself reeled, staggering, plunging downward; but long
before it reached the hard soil below, it was brought into level flight,
and despite many dead engines, it circled and fled toward the south. The
horde of small planes followed, dropping a rain of bombs into the
glowing pits in the ship, releasing their fury in its interior. In
moments the beings manning the marauder had to a large extent recovered
from the shock of the attack and were fighting back. In a moment--just
before the ship passed over the horizon and out of sight--the
Terrestrians saw the great props that had been idle, suddenly leap into
motion, and in an instant the giant had left its attackers
behind--fleeing from its invisible foe.

Under Arcot's guidance the ship from Earth, still invisible, returned to
the approximate spot where they had destroyed the invulnerability of the
Giant. Then suddenly, out of nothing, the _Solarite_ appeared. In an
instant a dozen of the tiny two-man planes darted toward it. Just that
they might recognize it, Arcot shot it up a bit higher with the aid of
the keel rockets at one-third power. The typical reddish flame of atomic
hydrogen, he knew, would be instantaneously recognizable.

Little these planes were, but shaped like darts, and swifter than any
plane of Earth. They shot along at 1000 miles an hour readily, as Arcot
soon found out. It was not a minute before they had formed a long line
that circled the _Solarite_ at minimum speed, then started off in the
direction of the city. On impulse Arcot followed after them, and
instantly the planes increased their velocity, swiftly reaching 1000
miles per hour.

The city they were approaching was an inspiring sight. Mighty towers
swept graceful lines a half mile in the air, their brightly colored
walls gleaming in rainbow hues, giving the entire city the aspect of a
gigantic jewel--a single architectural unit. Here was symmetry and
order, with every unit in the city built around the gigantic central
ed