them, of course, but I never saw one before," and the
officer touched the shining symbol lightly with his finger, jerking
backward involuntarily as there shot through his whole body a thrilling
surge of power, shouting into his very bones an unpronounceable
syllable--the password of the Secret Service. "Genuine or not, it gets
you to the Captain. He'll know, and if it's a fake you'll be breathing
space in five minutes."

Projector at the ready, the Officer of the Day followed Cleve into the
Holy of Holies. There the grizzled four-striper touched the golden
meteor lightly, then drove his piercing gaze deep into the unflinching
eyes of the younger man. But that captain had won his high rank neither
by accident nor by "pull"--he understood at once.

"It _must_ be an emergency," he growled, half-audibly, still staring at
his lowly Q. M. clerk, "to make Samms uncover his whole organization."
He turned and curtly dismissed the wondering O. D. Then: "All right! Out
with it!"

"Serious enough so that every one of us afloat has just received orders
to reveal himself to his commanding officer and to anyone else, if
necessary to reach that officer at once--orders never before issued. The
enemy have been located. They have built a base, and have ships better
than our best. Base and ships cannot be seen nor detected by any ether
wave. However, the Service has been experimenting for years with a new
type of communicator beam; and, while pretty crude yet, it was given to
us when the _Dione_ went out without leaving a trace. One of our men was
in the _Hyperion_, managed to stay alive, and has been sending data. I
am instructed to attach my new phone set to one of the universal plates
in your conning room, and to see what I can find."

"Go to it!" The captain waved his hand and the operative bent to his
task.

"Commanders of all vessels of the Fleet!" The Headquarters speaker,
receiver sealed upon the wave-length of the Admiral of the Fleet, broke
the long silence. "All vessels, in sectors L to R, inclusive, will
interlock location signals. Some of you have received, or will receive
shortly, certain communications from sources which need not be
mentioned. Those commanders will at once send out red K4 screens.
Vessels so marked will act as temporary flagships. Unmarked vessels will
proceed at maximum to the nearest flagship, grouping about it in
regulation squadron cone in order of arrival. Squadrons most distant
from objective po