"You are Captain, First Officer and Second Officer of the American Federation cruiser which crashed in our streets just as the main body of your ships escaped," he said, and even at the words my heart raced with sudden gladness. Our ships had escaped safely back over the Atlantic, then, as I had known they would! "----and we desire to know," the European First Air Chief was continuing, "just what forces remain to the Americans and which engaged in this attack." I faced him in utter silence, my own eyes meeting his probing black ones calmly, and at my silence I saw a contraction of the muscles about those eyes, a sudden flush beneath his swarthy skin. "I think it would be best for you to answer," he said quietly, "nor need you think that silence will help your countrymen in any way. For though your cruisers struck a great blow at us here in Berlin this night, though word has reached me that as great a one was struck by other American ships at Peking, these are but two of the two hundred great air-cities of our two Federations, but a fraction of our great forces. And we know that your fleets lost many ships in the battles of yesterday despite their victories, and desire to know what forces are left them." Still in stony silence I stood, my eyes meeting squarely the eyes of the men before me, while beside me Macklin and Hilliard stood in the same stiff silence. I saw the European Commander's flush of anger deepen, saw him half-rise with hand clenched to hurl an order at our guards, and then he had relaxed back into his seat, was smiling grimly. "A most unwise course to follow, Captain, you may believe me. I take it that your officers are as mule-headed? Well, there is no immediate hurry and a few days of consideration, of meditation, may change your minds. As a subject for your meditations, you may take my promise to you that unless you become more communicative at the end of the fortnight I give you, we shall be forced to use somewhat unpleasant procedures with you. An earnest consideration of that fact will, I think, change your viewpoint somewhat." He turned, snapped an order in his own tongue to the captain of the guards behind us. "A cell in the one hundredth story for these three--put them with the other American, and if after a fortnight they're still stubborn, we'll deal with all four."