he has been waiting, compressed,
till the others caught their seats. Your ships are captured as surely
as in a net. You cannot dislodge them, as you know. You must carry them
to Earth so, or capitulate and let them inside."

There was no scrap of fear that he would carry these devils to Earth,
naturally. But for the moment, Pink could see no sure way to escape the
doom that now lay over him and all his men. They would have to remain in
this asteroid belt ... perhaps forever.

CHAPTER XV

The three spaceships lay together in the void.

In the _Elephant's Child_, 57 men, seven officers, and Circe Smith were
seated in the demolished recreation room, which was the only place
besides the mess hall with enough chairs to accommodate them all. Radio
communication with the other ships was handled over an extension set
connected to the main radio room by a triple quancord laid down with
furious energy by Sparks.

"What we need, and need fast, is this," said Pinkham. "A method by which
we can project lead, in pellets or spray or any damn form, with
accuracy, using our platinum guns. There aren't any other weapons that
will fire from within."

"As you know, we've tried a few methods. One of the gunners of the
_Cottabus_ went into an air-lock and tossed a lead ball at the giant on
the _Diogenes_, using a sling-gun. He found the range was too long; and
when the captain attempted to bring the _Cottabus_ nearer, the thing on
_Diogenes_ simply reared his ship up by shifting his weight backward. So
long as they can maneuver our ships as easily as toy boats, we can't use
that simple method.

"Then _Diogenes_ tried to smash our giant off his perch by simply
ramming him headlong. Take a look at the screen and you'll see that
_Diogenes_ has a dented nose for her pains. Five men died in that try."

"Captain," said a hydroponics engineer, "isn't it possible that, if we
keep trying to oppose these aliens, they may simply tear their way into
the ships and retaliate?"

"Quite possible. Their strength is equal to picking the _Elephant's
Child_ apart, I'm sure." He glared at the men. "Listen: I don't have to
pull punches with you. The chances of our getting rid of these giants
and making it to Earth are damned remote. There may be a chance, though,
so we have to keep trying for it.

"The most important thing we have to do is keep this life-form of the
asteroids from going to Earth. We of the armada are a terrible danger
to mank