amis that his crew were intelligent and that
his instruction had been good. Every member knew his duties. Instead of
the two twelve-hour watches which were usual on space flyers, the
additional members of the crew who had been part of Monaill's band
enabled Damis to set only eight-hour shifts. Each member of the crew was
taught to operate the offensive ray projectors with which the flyer was
equipped.

* * * * *

Things soon settled down to routine. No wandering celestial bodies came
close enough to cause them any real alarm. Once the novelty of hurtling
through space had passed away, the trip became monotonous. The Earth,
which had at first filled the field of one of the observers, dwindled
until it became merely a brilliant green star. The red speck which was
Mars grew constantly more prominent as the hours went by and Damis gave
the word to turn on the bow motors and retard the speed of the flyer.
Several of the crew had worked in the communications net which Glavour
had thrown around the Earth and under orders from Turgan, they began to
call the red planet on the ship's communicator.

"It is well to let them know who we are," he said to Damis when he gave
the order. "We are flying a Jovian ship and since we have come so far
successfully, I have no desire to be blasted out of space by their
powerful weapons of defense."

Damis agreed heartily, and for twelve hours continual attempts were made
to communicate with their destination. At last their signals were
answered. Despite the differences in language, they had no trouble in
understanding the messages. A system of communication based not on words
or sound forms, but on thought forms, had been introduced to the Earth
by the Jovians and both Damis and Turgan were quite familiar with it.
The Martians informed them that the approaching ship had been sighted
and carefully watched for several days. As soon as he learned who the
occupants were, the Grand Mognac of Mars sent a message of welcome and
instructed them on what part of the planet to land. He promised that a
deputation would meet them with transportation to his capital city where
he would welcome them in person and supply them with the weapons they
sought.

CHAPTER III

_The Doom on Mars_

Two days later Damis dropped the ship gently to the ground in a wide and
deep depression which had been designated as their landing place. The
Grand Mognac had assured