"And what happens to worlds that the magnetic ray touches?" inquired the
scientist.

"A corner of it touched the world we fought over, and the world shook,"
replied the colonist.

"And the last weapon?" asked Sthanto, his voice soft now.

"It seems a ghost. It is a mistiness that comes into existence like a
cloud, and what it touches is crushed, what it rams is shattered. It
surrounds the great ship, and machines crashing into it at a speed of
more than six times that of light are completely destroyed, without in
the slightest injuring the shield.

"Then--what caused my departure from the colony--it showed once more its
unutterable power. The mistiness formed in the path of our colonial
world, number 3769-1-5, and the planet swept against that wall of
mistiness, and was shattered, and turned in less than five sthan to a
ball of blue-white fire. The wall stopped the planet in its motion. We
could not fight that machine, and we left the worlds. The others are
coming," finished the scout.

The ruler turned his slightly smiling face to the commander of his
armies, who sat beside him.

"Give orders," he said softly, almost gently, "that a triple ray station
be set up under the direction of Thalt, and further notice that all
power be made instantly available to it. Add that the colonists are
returning defeated, and bringing danger at their heels. The triple ray
will destroy each ship as it enters the system." His hand under the
table pushed an invisible protuberance, and from the perfectly
conducting relux floor to the equally perfectly conducting ceiling, and
between four pillars grouped around the spot where the scout stood,
terrific arcs suddenly came into being. They lasted for the thousandth
part of a second, and when they suddenly died away, as swiftly as they
had come, there was not even ash where the scout had been.

"Have you any suggestions, Thalt?" he asked of the scientist, his voice
as soft as before.

"I quite agree with your conduct so far, but the future conduct you had
planned is quite unsatisfactory," replied the scientist. The ruler sat
motionless in his great seat, staring fixedly at the scientist. "I think
it is time I take your place, therefore." The place where the ruler had
been was suddenly seen as through a dark cloud, then the cloud was gone,
and with it the king, only his relux chair, and the bits of lux or relux
that had been about his garments remained.

"He was a fool," said the sc