atus of each, man and machine alike, came the
impulses, deep in tone, seeming of infinite power, held gently in check.

"Once you failed, F-2; once you came near destroying all things. Now you
have planted the seed. I grow now."

The sphere of golden light seemed to pulse, and a tiny ruby flame
appeared within it, that waxed and waned, and as it waxed, there shot
through each of those watching beings a feeling of rushing, exhilarating
power, the very vital force of well-being.

Then it was over, and the golden sphere was twice its former
size--easily three feet in diameter, and still that irregular, hazy aura
of deep violet floated about it.

"Yes, I can deal with the Outsiders--they who have killed and destroyed,
that they might possess. But it is not necessary that we destroy. They
shall return to their planet."

And the golden sphere was gone, fast as light it vanished.

Far in space, headed now for Mars, that they might destroy all life
there, the golden sphere found the Outsiders, a clustered fleet, that
swung slowly about its own center of gravity as it drove on.

Within its ring was the golden sphere. Instantly, they swung their
weapons upon it, showering it with all the rays and all the forces they
knew. Unmoved, the golden sphere hung steady, then its mighty
intelligence spoke.

"Life-form of greed, from another star you came, destroying forever the
great race that created us, the Beings of Force and the Beings of Metal.
Pure force am I. My Intelligence is beyond your comprehension, my memory
is engraved in the very space, the fabric of space of which I am a part,
mine is energy drawn from that same fabric.

"We, the heirs of man, alone are left; no man did you leave. Go now to
your home planet, for see, your greatest ship, your flagship, is
helpless before me."

Forces gripped the mighty ship, and as some fragile toy it twisted and
bent, and yet was not hurt. In awful wonder those Outsiders saw the ship
turned inside out, and yet it was whole, and no part damaged. They saw
the ship restored, and its great screen of blankness out, protecting it
from all known rays. The ship twisted, and what they knew were curves,
yet were lines, and angles that were acute, were somehow straight lines.
Half mad with horror, they saw the sphere send out a beam of blue-white
radiance, and it passed easily through that screen, and through the
ship, and all energies within it were instantly locked. They could not
be cha