"Excellent," said the Secretary. "We'll have the men there in a few hours and will obtain whatever you need, regardless of cost, for immediate delivery. Incidentally, there will be several scientists as well, who will supervise the installation of two types of ray generators and their projecting mechanisms on the _Pioneer_. You will need them later." "I don't doubt we shall," said Hart. "And now, with your permission, we shall leave for the hangar. I'm ready to start work." "Capital!" Secretary Simler pressed every one of a row of buttons set in his desk top. We were dismissed. "Well," said I, when we reached the outside, "he has given you quite a job, Hart!" "You said something," he replied. "But, if this threat from the skies proves as real and as calamitous as I think it will, we all have our work cut out for us." "Do you really believe this enemy comes from another planet?" asked George as we entered the _Pioneer_ for the trip home. "Where else can they be from?" countered Hart. "But, really it makes no difference to us now. We have to go after them in earnest. Don't want to quit, do you, George?" "Wha-a-at?" shouted George, as he jerked savagely at the main switch of the _Pioneer_. "You know me better than that, Hart. Did I ever let you down in anything?" "No," admitted the smiling Hart, "you never did, bless your heart. But Jack here is another matter. He has a wife and two kids to look after. That lets him out automatically." * * * * * My heart sank at the words, for I knew that he meant what he said. And, truth to tell, I saw the justice in his remarks. "But, Hart," I faltered, "I'd like to be in on this thing." "I know you would, old man. But I think it's out of the question, for the present at least. You can help with the reconstruction of the _Pioneer_, however." And meekly I accepted his dictum, though with secretly conflicting emotions. Little did I realize at the time that Hart knew far more than he pretended and that he had merely attempted to salve his own conscience in this manner. I was very anxious to return to my family, and, as I sped homeward in a taxicab after the _Pioneer_ landed at her own hangar, my mind was filled with doubts and fears. Secretary Simler had been very brief in his talk, but his every word carried home the gravity of the situation. What if these invaders carried the war to the surface? Suppose they seared the countryside and the cities and suburbs with rays of horrible nature that would shrivel and blast all that lay in their path? My heart chilled at the thought and it was a distinct relief when I gazed on my little home and saw that it was safe--so far. I paid the driver with a much too large bank note and dashed up my own front steps two at a time.