of the miniature world flashed into being upon
his plate. "You may notify the fleet--co-ordinates H 11.62, RA
124-31-16, and Dx about 173.2."

The report made and the assistants out of the room, the captain turned
to the observer and saluted gravely.

"We have always known, sir, that the Service had _men_; but I had no
idea that any one man could possibly do, on the spur of the moment, what
you have just done--unless that man happened to be Lyman Cleveland."

"Oh, it doesn't ..." the observer began, but broke off, muttering
unintelligibly at intervals; then swung the visiray beam toward the
earth. Soon a face appeared upon the plate, the keen but careworn face
of Virgil Samms!

"Hello, Lyman." His voice came clearly from the speaker, and the Captain
gasped--his ultra-wave observer and sometime clerk was Lyman Cleveland
himself, probably the greatest living expert in beam transmission! "I
knew that you'd do something, if it could be done. How about it--can the
others install similar sets on their ships? I'm betting that they
can't."

"Probably not," Cleveland frowned in thought. "This is a patchwork
affair, made of gunny-sacks and hay-wire. I'm holding it together by
main strength and awkwardness, and even at that it's apt to go to pieces
any minute."

"Can you rig it up for photography?"

"I think so. Just a minute--yes, I can. Why?"

"Because there's something going on out there that neither we nor the
so-called pirates know anything about. The Admiralty seems to think that
it's the Jovians again, but we don't see how it can be--if it is, they
have developed a lot of stuff that none of our agents has even
suspected," and he recounted briefly what Costigan had reported to him,
concluding: "Then there was a burst of interference--on the
_ultra-band_, mind you--and I've heard nothing from him since. Therefore
I want you to stay out of the battle entirely. Stay as far away from it
as you can and still get good pictures of everything that happens. I
will see that orders are issued to the _Chicago_ to that effect."

"But listen ..."

"Those are orders!" snapped Samms. "It is of the utmost importance that
we know every detail of what is going to happen. The answer is pictures.
The only possibility of obtaining pictures is that machine you have just
developed. If the fleet wins, nothing will be lost. If the fleet
loses--and I am not half as confident of success as the Admiral is--the
_Chicago_ doesn't carry enoug