avitation, we'll be able to spread out the field,
widen it, make it thousands of miles across. And the new photo-cells
will be a help as well."

"How are the photo-cells coming?" asked Chambers.

Craven grinned. "We'll have a bank of them in within a few hours, and
replace the others as fast as we can. I have practically the whole crew
at work on them. Manning doesn't know it, but he found the limit of
those photo-cells when he was heaving energy at us back in the Solar
System. He blistered them. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but it
was. You have to hand it to Manning and Page. They are a couple of smart
men."

To the eye there was only one slight difference between the old cells
and the new ones. The new type cell, when on no load, appeared milky
white, whereas the old cells on no load were silvery. The granular
surface of the new units was responsible for the difference in
appearance, for each minute section of the surface was covered with even
more minute metallic hexagonal pyramids and prisms.

"Just a little matter of variation in the alloy," Craven explained.
"Crystalization of the alloy, forming those little prisms and pyramids.
As a result, you get a surface thousands of times greater than in the
old type. Helps you absorb every bit of the energy."

* * * * *

The _Interplanetarian_ arrowed swiftly starward, driving ahead with
terrific momentum while the collector lens, sweeping up the oncoming
radiations, charged the great banks of accumulators. The G-type star
toward which they were heading was still pale, but the two brighter
stars to either side blazed like fiery jewels against the black of
space.

"You say we'll be only a week or so behind Manning?" asked Chambers.

Craven looked at the financier, his eyes narrowed behind the heavy
lenses. He sucked in his loose lips and turned once again to the control
board.

"Perhaps a little longer," he admitted finally. "We're losing time,
having to go along on momentum in order to collect power. But the nearer
we get to those stars, the more power we'll have and we'll be able to
move faster."

Chambers drummed idly on the arm of his chair, thinking.

"Perhaps there's time yet," he said, half to himself. "With the power
we'll have within the Solar System, we can stop Manning and the
revolution. We can gain control again."

* * * * *

Craven was silent, watching the dials.

"Manning