rge on
the screens. They changed to a straight molecular drive, and dropped to
the Vermont field from which they had taken off.

During the long voyage, Morey and Arcot had both spent much of the time
working on the time-distortion field, which would give them a tremendous
control over time, either speeding or slowing their time rate
enormously. At last, this finished, they had worked on the artificial
matter theory, to the point where they could control the shape of the
matter perfectly, though as yet they could not control its exact nature.
The possibility of such control was, however, definitely proven by the
results the machines had given them. Arcot had been more immediately
interested in the control of form. He could control the nature as to
opacity or transparency to all vibrations that normal matter is opaque
or transparent to. Light would pass, or not as he chose, but cosmics he
could not stop nor would radio or moleculars be stopped by any present
shield he could make.

They had signaled, as soon as they slowed outside the atmosphere, and
when they settled to the field, Arcot's father and a number of very
important scientists had already arrived.

Arcot senior greeted his son very warmly, but he was tremendously
worried, as his son soon saw.

"What's happened, Dad--won't they believe your statements?"

"They doubted when I went to Luna for a session with the Interplanetary
Council, but before they could say much, they had plenty of proof of my
statements," the older man answered. "News came that a fleet of
Planetary Guard ships had been wiped out by a fleet of ships from outer
space. They were huge things--nearly half a mile in length. The Guard
ships went up to them--fifty of them--and tried to signal for a
conference. The white ship was instantly wiped out--we don't know how.
They didn't have ray screens, but that wasn't it. Whatever it
was--slightly luminous ray in space--it simply released the energy of
the lux metal and relux of the ship. Being composed of light energy
simply bound by photonic attraction, it let go with terrible energy.
They can do it almost instantly from a distance. The other Guards at
once let loose with all their moleculars and cosmics. The enemy shunted
off the moleculars, and wiped out the Guard almost instantly.

"Of course, I could explain the screen, but not the detonation ray. I am
inclined to believe from other casualties that the destruction, though
reported as an insta