istry. They've found the
secret of catalysis, and can actually synthesize any catalytic agent
they want. They can make any possible reaction go in either direction
at any rate they desire.

"They took a slice of flesh from my arm and analyzed it down to the last
detail. From that, they were able to predict what sort of food we would
need to eat. They can actually synthesize living things!

"I've tried the food they made, and it has a very good flavor. They
guaranteed it would have all the necessary ingredients, right down to
the smallest trace element!

"We're fully stocked for a long trip. The Three said it was their first
consideration that we should be able to return to our homes."

"How about their armament?" Arcot asked. He was holding his head in his
hands to ease the throbbing ache within it.

"Each city has a projector supplied by the regular power station on top
of their central building. The molecular ray, of course; they still
don't have enough power to run a heat beam.

"We didn't have time to make more than one for each city, but this one
will give the Satorians a nasty time if they come near it. It works
nicely through the magnetic screen, so it won't be necessary for them to
lower the barrier to shoot."

Morey had finished telling the Council what Arcot had discovered from
the prisoner, and the Councilmen were leaving one by one to go to their
duties in preparing for the attack.

"I think we had best go back to the _Ancient Mariner_," Arcot said. "I
need an aspirin and some sleep."

"Same here," agreed Fuller. "These men make me feel as though I were
lazy. They work for forty or fifty hours and think nothing of it. Then
they snooze for five hours and they're ready for another long stretch. I
feel like a lounge lizard if I take six hours out of every twenty-four."

They asked Torlos to stand guard on the ship while they got some much
needed sleep, and Torlos consented readily after getting the permission
of the Supreme Three. The Earthmen were returned to their ship under
heavy guard to prevent further attempts at assassination.

It was seven hours after they had gone to sleep that it came.

Through the ship came the low hum that rose quickly to a screeching call
of danger--the warning! The city was under attack!

XXII

The Nansalian fleet was already outside the city and hard at it. The
fight was on! But Arcot saw that the fight was one-sided in the extreme.
Ship after ship of the