s
kept her under view. Lazily, the Miran patrol on Phobos watched the
T-208, indifferent to her. The T-208 dove suddenly, after five fruitless
circles of the tiny world, and with her four-foot UV beam flaming,
stabbed angrily at a flight of Miran scouts berthed in the very shadow
of a great battle cruiser, one of the interstellar ships stationed here
on Phobos.

Four of the little ships slumped in incandescence. Angrily the terrific
sword of energy slashed at the frail little scouts.

Angrily the Miran interstellar ship shot herself abruptly into action
against this insolent cruiser. The cruiser launched a flight of the
mercury-torpedoes. Flashing, burning, ultra-violet energy flooded the
great ship, harmlessly, for the men were, as usual, protected. The Miran
answered with the neutron beam, atomic and gamma bombs--and the crumbler
ray.

Gently, softly a halo of shimmering-violet luminescence built up about
the T-208. The UV beam continued to flare, wavering slightly in its
aim--then fell way off to one side. The T-208 staggered suddenly,
wandered from her course--whole, but uncontrolled. For the men within
the ship were dead.

Majestically the Miran swung along beside the dead ship, a great
magnetic tow-cable shot out toward it, to shy off at first, then slowly
to be adjusted, and take hold in the magnetic shield of the T-208. The
pilots of the watching scout-ships turned away. They knew what would
happen.

It did. Five--ten--twenty seconds passed. Then the "dead-man" took over
the ship--and the stored power in the atostor tanks blasted in a
terrible flame that shattered the metal hull to molecular fragments. The
interstellar cruiser shuddered, and rolled half over at the blasting
pressure. Leaking seams appeared in her plates.

The scouts raced back to Luna as the Miran settled heavily, and a trifle
clumsily to Phobos. Miran radio-beams were forcing their way out toward
the Miran station on Europa, to be relayed to the headquarters on
Jupiter, just as Solarian radio beams were thrusting through space
toward Luna. Said the Miran messages: "Their ships no longer crumble."
Said the Solarian messages: "The ships no longer crumble--but the men
die."

* * * * *

His deep eyes burning tensely, Buck Kendall heard the messages coming
in, and rose slowly from his seat to pace the floor. "I think I know
why," he said at last. "I should have thought. For that too can be
prevented."

"W