almost had Earth when my whole
set went to pieces. Come, quickly!"

"We will, if we're able," I muttered to myself, and said aloud as I ran
in the gigantic bounds possible on Orcon: "Koto, Captain, do you feel
anything queer in the air as if--as if--"

I never finished. Suddenly Captain Crane screamed and flung out her arms
to me with the gesture of one about to fall.

"Doctor Weeks!" she gasped. "Frederick, help me!"

* * * * *

And that was all. Before she could choke out another word, before I
could do more than clutch at her, she had been caught up by an invisible
power, caught up straight into the now dazzlingly brilliant green air,
and swept away from us as if she were a feather in a tornado.

It was over before realization could sink in. Nor was her departure all.
From the ship came a ringing yell, and as LeConte, in the distance,
clutched a stanchion as if for dear life, the whole battered, glimmering
gray shape of the flier moved, shivered, and in a flash was caught up
and whisked away as easily as had been Virginia Crane!

"He's got us!" I sputtered as I turned to Koto. "He was only waiting
until we started to march against him."

"God, yes. Horrible!" he muttered.

Then _his_ kindly yellow face went white. Even while I stood looking at
him, he, too, was swept away into space.

When my turn came, it was as if implacable fingers took hold of my
wrists, the front of my coat, my shoes. I distinctly remember thinking
that after all the peace we'd had, something as astounding as this was
almost bound to have happened. The glittering boulders of the coastal
plain fell away, and I felt myself being whirled through space. The
speed was taking my breath away. A ringing came into my ears, spots
floated before my eyes, a nauseating light-headedness swept me, and I
lapsed into unconsciousness.

CHAPTER IV

_In the Caverns of Orcon_

I came out of it to find myself lying on my back upon the rocky floor of
a cavern more lofty than any cathedral. The air was warm and charged
with a pungent, almost mephitic odor. Blue light filled the vast
subterranean place. I heard the far-away, droning throb of machinery.
Crackling sounds like static on a vast scale ripped back and forth at
intervals.

Neither Captain Crane, Koto, nor LeConte was in sight, but wherever I
looked as I twisted my head slowly, I saw winged Orconites staring at
me. They stood back against the