this should come upon us!"

Carter was fumbling with the chart room weapons. "Here, Gregg. Help
me. What have you got? Heat ray? That's all I had ready."

It struck me then as I helped him make the connections that Carter in
this crisis was at best an inefficient commander. His red face had
gone splotchy purple; his hands were trembling. Skilled as Captain of
a peaceful liner, he was at a loss now. But I could not blame him. It
is easy to say we might have taken warning, done this or that, and
come triumphant through the attack. But only the fool looks backward
and says, "I would have done better."

I tried to summon my wits. The ship was lost to us unless Carter and I
could do something. Our futile weapons! They were all here--four or
five heat ray hand projectors that could send a pencil ray a hundred
feet or so. I shot one diagonally up at the turret where Johnson was
leering down at our rear window, but he saw my gesture and dropped
back out of sight. The heat beam flashed harmlessly up and struck the
turret room. Then across the turret window came a sheen of
radiance--an electrobarrage. And behind it, Hahn's suave, evil face
appeared. He shouted down:

"We have orders to spare you, Gregg Haljan--or you would have been
killed long ago!"

My answering shot hit his barrage with a shower of sparks, behind
which he stood unmoved.

Carter handed me another weapon. "Gregg, try this."

I leveled the old explosive projector; Carter crouched beside me. But
before I could press the trigger, from somewhere down the starlit deck
an electro beam hit me. The little rifle exploded, broke its breech. I
sank back to the floor, tingling from the shock of the hostile
current. My hands were blackened from the exploded powder.

Carter seized me. "No use. Hurt?"

"No."

The stars through the dome windows were swinging. A long swing--the
shadows and patterns on the starlit deck were all shifting. The
_Planetara_ was turning. The heavens revolved in a great round sweep
of movement, then settled as we took our new course.

Hahn at the turret controls had swung us. The Earth and the Sun showed
over our bow quarter. The sunlight mingled red-yellow with the
brilliant starlight. Hahn's signals were sounding; I heard them
answered from the mechanism rooms down below. Brigands there--in full
control. The gravity plates were being set to the new positions: We
were on our new course. Headed a point or two off the Earthline. Not
head