We turned and saw racing toward us thousands on thousands of shining points that became cruisers as they neared us. Foremost among them flew the flagship of Lacq Larus, and the Chief's craft drew up close beside our own. "Almost the whole strength of the Patrol is here, Dur Nal," Lacq Larus told me on the space-phone. "What about the dark stars?" "They're almost here too," I said grimly. "You can see them out there." There was silence as Lacq Larus and all the rest in our fleet peered toward those twenty onrushing giant globes. "They're almost here, sir," I said. "What are your orders for attack?" "We'll divide into twenty divisions, one to attack each of those dark stars," Lacq Larus ordered. "Each division will descend on its objective and beam everything upon it as heavily as possible, trying especially to destroy the controls of the propulsion-apparatus." "We will not attack until they actually start dragging away suns. For if they find themselves unable to seize any of our suns as they plan, they will no doubt return to their own galaxy and there will be no need of combat." We watched, therefore, without making a move as the score of dark stars drew nearer. The scene was a thrilling one: the hosts of the galaxy's shining suns stretching away behind us; the myriad cruisers of our great fleet lying motionless up there high above the outermost suns; the twenty huge black stars booming nearer on their ruthless mission of intergalactic piracy. The dark stars were now at the galaxy's edge, and there they separated. Each of them moved toward one of the suns below, and each selected a hot, youthful sun of large or medium size. Directly under my own ship we could see one of the dark stars approaching a blue sun, curving smoothly in toward it. "It can't be done!" Jhul Din exclaimed tautly. "Nothing can drag a sun away!" "But they're doing it!" cried Korus Kan. "Look at that!" The dark star had come very close to the blue sun, and now from its surface a broad, pale beam of immense magnitude stabbed toward the sun. For a few moments they remained thus, dark star and sun connected by that beam. Then the dark star began to move slowly away under the influence of its propulsion-apparatus, and the blue sun moved slowly after it! "They're doing it!" repeated Korus Kan. "They're towing that sun away!" "And look--all the other dark stars are dragging away suns!" cried the astounded Jhul Din. * * * * * It was an astounding, an awful spectacle--those robber dark stars of the machines making away with twenty of our suns. Lacq Larus' voice snapped at that moment from the space-phone. Our fleet divided into twenty subdivisions, each with one of the dark stars as its objective. Then came the order to attack.