Page:Amazing Stories Volume 15 Number 12.djvu/40

40 Earth's."

"The Hundred—!" Kris gasped.

"Someone's given them the warning! I wonder who!" Vanz said acidly.

As if by signal, the eyes of all turned upon Brooke. The girl started.

"You—oh, you're wrong!' she cried. "Dane, I swear I know no more of this than you! Haven't I been with you almost every minute?"

Uncertainty claimed Dane. The others watched him intently. Doubt lay close to the surface of his troubled eyes. More softly, Brooke pursued:

"Didn't I risk my life to come to you, Dane? Would I have done that if I hadn't really believed in you?"

Dane couldn't meet her imploring eyes. Common-sense told him that Brooke was the only one who would have done it. But a stronger urge in him was to believe her. Finally he looked up at Nile Vanz.

"I'll vouch for her," he said levelly. "For one thing, I don’t think a woman of Earth would know how to run an Ionian transmitter. And besides I—well, I just choose to believe her," he ended lamely.

"I'll hold you to that." Vanz growled. "In the meantime, we must all keep our eyes and ears open. Keep quiet about this. Perhaps the murderer will try another coup. Then we'll grab him."

When the others had gone out, Brooke pulled Dane's face down to hers and pressed her lips against his. Into his ear she whispered:

"I knew you'd believe me. Dane!"

Dane fumbled for an answer. His reply might have been easier had he not seen Margo glance back over his shoulder at them. Her eyes dropped instantly, but a darkness had flowed into them, and the darkness was one of hurt. Tight-lipped, he disengaged Brooke's arms. They fell in behind the other pair. And Dane Cabot was wondering when the old spark had died.

Vanz took Kris to the bridge with him to confer on some matter. Brooke went to her room to rest, and Dane entered the smoking room for a cigarette.

It was just ten seconds after he lit the match that tragedy struck.

UT of the violet immensity, silent as marauding wolves, a swarm of tiny ships leaped upon the fleet! Like silver sparrow-hawks, they were, splitting into ten squadrons of a dozen ships each and diving upon the ten gigantic war-craft. Dane shot to his feet as alarm bells clamored all over the ship. Through the window he saw the reason for it.

Around the Orsis swarmed a dozen swift pursuit ships. While he watched, a crackling blue ray stabbed from one of the flagship's gun-stations and an Earth-ship exploded into metallic fragments. But eleven angry hornets remained to put their deadly stingers into the clumsy warship.

Dane raced from the smoking room and plowed through milling soldiers to make his way to the bridge. Nile Vanz's booming voice seemed to bulge the walls of the cabin as he approached. Dane entered to find him barking by turns into a dozen microphones. Lights flashed on the switchboard as officers throughout the ship sought to get in touch with him.

Kris was at the controls. The chief gunner, with eight television pictures shimmering before him, stabbed frantically at buttons as the darting American ships crossed his sights.

The warlord shot a blazing glance at Dane.

"Why didn't I guess!" he roared.