rutiny, and
drove their task through to completion on the shortest possible time.
The copper repellers were banded on, and much additional machinery was
installed in the already well-equipped shop. This done, they transferred
to their warship food, water, bedding, instruments, and everything else
they needed or wanted from their own ship and from the disabled
Kondalian airship. They made a last tour of inspection to be sure they
had overlooked nothing useful, then embarked.

"Think anybody will find those ships? They could get a good line on what
we've done."

"Probably, eventually, Loring, so we'd better destroy them. We'd better
take a short hop first, though, to test everything out. Since you're not
familiar with the controls of a ship of this type, you need practise.
Shoot us up around that moon over there and bring us back to this spot."

"She's a sweet-handling boat--easy like a bicycle," declared Loring as
he brought the vessel lightly to a landing upon their return. "We can
burn the old one up now. We'll never need her again, any more than a
snake needs his last year's skin."

"She's good, all right. Those two hulks must be put out of existence,
but we shouldn't do it here. The rays would set the woods afire, and the
metal would condense all around. We don't want to leave any tracks, so
we'd better pull them out into space to destroy them. We could turn them
loose, and as you've never worked a ray, it'll be good practice for you.
Also, I want you to see for yourself just what our best armour-plate
amounts to compared with arenak."

When they towed the two vessels far out into space, Loring put into
practise the instruction he had received from DuQuesne concerning the
complex armament of their vessel. He swung the beam-projector upon the
Kondalian airship, pressed the connectors of the softener ray, the heat
ray, and the induction ray, and threw the master switch. Almost
instantly the entire hull became blinding white, but it was several
seconds before the extremely refractory material began to volatilize.
Though the metal was less than an inch think, it retained its shape and
strength stubbornly, and only slowly did it disappear in flaming,
flaring gusts of incandescent gas.

"There, you've seen what an inch of arenak is like," said DuQuesne when
the destruction was complete. "Now shine it on that sixty-inch
chrome-vanadium armor hull of our old bus and see what happens."

Loring did so. As the beam touc