the hissing of gas as the twin doors opened,
and Taj Lamor stepped out, now well up in the nose of the cruiser. As he
stepped out of the car the outer and inner doors closed, and, ready now
for other calls, the car remained at this station. On a ship so long,
some means of communication faster than walking was essential. This
little pneumatic railway was the solution.

As Taj Lamor stepped out of the tube, a half-dozen men, who had been
talking among themselves, snapped quickly to attention. Following the
plans of the long-gone armies of their ancestors, the men of the
expedition had been trained to strict discipline; and Taj Lamor was
their technical leader and the nominal Commander-in-Chief, although
another man, Kornal Sorul, was their actual commander.

Taj Lamor proceeded at once to the Staff Cabin in the very nose of the
great ship. Just above him there was another room, walled on all sides
by that clear, glass-like material, the control cabin. Here the pilot
sat, directing the motions of the mighty ship of space.

Taj Lamor pushed a small button on his desk and in a moment a gray disc
before him glowed dimly, then flashed into life and full, natural color.
As though looking through a glass porthole, Taj Lamor saw the interior
of the Communications Room. The Communications Officer was gazing at a
similar disc in which Taj Lamor's features appeared.

"Have they reported from Ohmur, Lorsand, and Throlus, yet, Morlus Tal?"
asked the commander.

"They are reporting now, Taj Lamor, and we will be ready within two and
one half minutes. The plans are as before; we are to proceed directly
toward the Yellow Star, meeting at Point 71?"

"The plans are as before. Start when ready."

The disc faded, the colors died, and it was gray again. Taj Lamor pulled
another small lever on the panel before him, and the disc changed,
glowed, and was steady; and now he saw the preparations for departure,
as from an eye on the top of the great ship. Men streamed swiftly in
ordered columns all about and into the huge vessels. In an incredibly
short time they were in, and the great doors closed behind them.
Suddenly there came a low, dull hum through the disc, and the sound
mounted quickly, till all the world seemed humming to that dull note.
The warning!

Abruptly the city around him seemed to blaze in a riot of colored light!
The mighty towering bulks of the huge metal buildings were polished and
bright, and now, as the millions of