fleet ships and
decided that they were still too far away to tighten a ring of armor
around the pirate. Strong was well aware that if the Solar Guard could
spot Coxine, he in turn could spot them. Luck, mused Strong to himself,
was what they needed now. A little luck to keep the pirate from
repairing his ship and disappearing into the asteroid belt. He grabbed
the intercom and bawled orders.

"Power deck, emergency space speed. Control deck, relay that order to
every ship converging on the _Avenger's_ position!"

"What's up, sir?" asked Tom from below.

"One of the ships has spotted Coxine. He's apparently still out of
commission, but we're too far away to hail him."

Strong began to pace the deck of the radar bridge, and with each turn,
he glanced at the radar scanner where Roger was waiting anxiously for
the telltale blip of the _Avenger_ to appear.

Suddenly the blond-haired cadet stiffened. He peered at the scanner
screen, then cried, "There he is, sir!" His finger pointed to a white
outline on the scanner.

Strong took a quick look at the pirate's position and compared it to the
positions of the converging fleet. He turned to the teleceiver and
signaled for the immediate attention of all ships.

"This is Strong aboard the flagship _Polaris_! All ships will proceed
according to attack plan seventeen--code nine. Use full power! Emergency
thrust!"

As the minutes passed and the Solar Guard fleet plunged forward, the
ships forged a solid wall of guns around the drifting pirate vessel.
From above, below, and almost every compass point on the plan of the
ecliptic, they closed in, deadly blasters aimed, gunners ready to fire.

"We've got him, sir!" breathed Roger. "He can't escape now! Not in a
million light years!"

Captain Strong didn't reply. Eyes were glued to the scanner, watching
the target and the Solar Guard squadrons, searching for every possible
loophole in the trap. Suddenly he spoke into the teleceiver.

"Attention all ships! Maintain present range, reduce speed, and take
englobement formation!"

In reply, the elements of the fleet smoothly reformed until they formed
a giant wheel in space with the pirate ship as the hub. Around and
around they flew, all inboard guns trained on the enemy.

As the command ship, the _Polaris_ flew high over the formation. Strong
checked the formation carefully on the scanner and nodded his
satisfaction.

"I think we've done it now, Manning," he sighed. "Coxine