eserted. What
could I do to jam the controls of the ships that would not register on
the recording instruments of the other ships? I gazed at the mass of
controls. Levers and wheels galore. In the center of the compartment, on
a massively braced universal joint mounting, was what I took for the
repellor generator. A dial on it glowed and a faint hum came from within
its shielding metallic case. But I had no time to study it.

Above all else, I was afraid that some automatic telephone apparatus
existed in the room, through which I might be heard on the other ships.
The risk of trying to jam the controls was too great. I abandoned the
idea and withdrew softly. I would have to take a chance that there was
no other member of the crew aboard.

I ran back to the entrance compartment. Wilma still lay where she had
slumped down. I heard the voices of the Hans approaching. It was time to
act. The next few seconds would tell whether the ships in the air would
try or be able to melt us into nothingness. I spoke.

"Are you boys all ready?" I asked, creeping to a position opposite the
door and drawing my hand-gun.

Again there was a chorus of assent.

"Then on the count of three, shoot up those repellor rays--all of
them--and for God's sake, don't miss." And I counted.

I think my "three" was a bit weak. I know it took all the courage I had
to utter it.

For an agonizing instant nothing happened, except that the landing party
from the ship strolled into my range of vision.

Then startled, they turned their eyes upward. For an instant they stood
frozen with horror at whatever they saw.

One hurled his knife at me. It grazed my cheek. Then a couple of them
made a break for the doorway. The rest followed. But I fired pointblank
with my hand-gun, pressing the button as fast as I could and aiming at
their feet to make sure my explosive rockets would make contact and do
their work.

The detonations of my rockets were deafening. The spot on which the Hans
stood flashed into a blinding glare. Then there was nothing there except
their torn and mutilated corpses. They had been fairly bunched, and I
got them all.

I ran to the door, expecting any instant to be hurled into infinity by
the sweep of a disintegrator ray.

Some eighth of a mile away I saw one of the ships crash to earth. A
disintegrator ray came into my line of vision, wavered uncertainly for a
moment and then began to sweep directly toward the ship in which I
stood