table and facing
Coxine.

"We'll take up a position in the asteroid belt, here!" He placed a
finger on a map of the belt. "Simms!" roared the giant spaceman.

"Yes, sir!" the wizened space pirate stepped forward.

"You remember that rocket scout we blasted? The one that got our other
ship?"

"I sure do, sir."

"It's drifting around in orbit near asteroid seventeen. Take a crew of
men and a few jet boats and go get her. Bring her back here and fix her
up. Strip every pound of excess weight off her. I want a ship that'll
fly faster than anything in the system and I want it in twenty-four
hours."

"Yes, sir," gulped Simms. "But then what'll I do with her?"

"After you've done what I've already told you to do," snapped Coxine,
"I'll tell you more!"

Simms' face turned red, and he nodded curtly.

"Now as for the rest of you crawlers," said Coxine, facing the room full
of men. "Repair crews have been assigned for work on the rocket scout
and the rest of you will work on the _Avenger_ and prepare her for a
long flight. I want the three-inch blasters, every paralo-ray gun and
rifle, the fuel tanks, food supplies, oxygen circulators, in fact
everything checked, rechecked, and _double-checked_!"

Joe Brooks, who had become a favorite of Coxine's, rose and faced the
pirate captain. "Where are we going to strike next, skipper?"

Coxine looked at the man with a half-smile playing on his lips. "This
operation will have two parts, Joe. The first--well--" his smiled
broadened--"the Titan pay-roll ship just blasted off from Space Academy.
For the last ten years, the Titan pay-roll ship has been blasting off
from Atom City. Now why do you think it would suddenly leave from Space
Academy, the home of the Solar Guard?"

The crowd of men murmured their bewilderment.

"I'll tell you why!" bawled Coxine. "Either they have that ship so
packed with blasters it would take a fleet to stop it, or it's a trap!"

"But if you think it's a trap," exclaimed Wallace, "you're not going to
hit it, are you?"

"I said it _might_ be a trap!" snapped Coxine. "But it might not and
with twenty million credits to be had for the taking, I'm not going to
let her breeze through. I'm going to make sure it's a trap before I try
something else!"

"But how?" persisted Wallace.

Coxine looked at his lieutenant coldly. He had indulged the man too
long. "I'll tell you when I get good and ready! Now all of you, get out
of here and make sure everythin