ainly send out torpedoes to every one of their ships of war. We can
then follow the torpedoes with our rays, and thus will be enabled to
find and to destroy their vessels."

"That settles that," declared the chairman as a shout of agreement
arose. "We shall now adjourn to the projector and send the warning. I
have a ray upon the torpedo, announcing the destruction by us of their
vessel, and that torpedo will arrive at its destination in less than an
hour. It seems to me that we should make our announcement immediately
after their ruler has received the news of their first defeat."

In the projector, where they were joined by Rovol, Orlon, and several
others of the various "Firsts" of Norlamin, they flashed out to the
flying torpedo, and Seaton grinned at Crane as their fifth-order carrier
beam went through the far-flung detector screens of the Fenachrone
without setting up the slightest reaction. In the wake of that speeding
messenger they flew through a warm, foggy, dense atmosphere, through a
receiving trap in the wall of a gigantic conical structure, and on into
the telegraph room. They saw the operator remove spools of tape from the
torpedo and attach them to a magnetic sender--heard him speak.

"Pardon, your majesty--we have just received a first-degree emergency
torpedo from flagship Y427W of fleet 42. In readiness."

"Put it on, here in the council chamber," a deep voice snapped.

"If he's broadcasting it, we're in for a spell of hunting," Seaton
remarked. "Nope, he's putting it on a tight beam--that's fine, we can
chase it up," and with a narrow detector beam he traced the invisible
transmission beam into the council room.

"'Sfunny. This place seems awfully familiar--I'd swear I'd seen it
before, lots of times--seems like I've been in it, more than once,"
Seaton remarked, puzzled, as he looked around the somber room, with its
dull, paneled metal walls covered with charts, maps, screens, and
speakers; and with its low, massive furniture. "Oh, sure, I'm familiar
with it from studying the brain of that Fenachrone captain. Well, while
His Nibs is absorbing the bad news, we'll go over this once more. You,
Carfon, having the biggest voice of any of us ever heard uttering
intelligible language, are to give the speech. You know about what to
say. When I say 'go ahead' do your stuff. Now, everybody else, listen.
While he's talking I've got to have audio waves heterodyned both ways in
the circuit, and they'll be abl