Down, down--like swooping hawks of space our cruisers rushed headlong down through the millions of miles toward the dark stars towing away their helpless prey. And up from each of the dark stars to meet us, as though they had only been awaiting our attack, darted hosts of the disk-like flying-mechanisms. There was a hell of cosmic struggle then over the twenty dark stars. So appalling was the inferno of that battle that I lost all sense of the individual part our ship took in it. I was aware of Jhul Din and Korus Kan yelling hoarsely beside me as the beams of our ships stabbed and smashed through the masses of the darting flying-machines. Then I saw brilliant filaments of blue force emitted from the flying-mechanisms toward our cruisers, saw every cruiser touched by them explode instantly into blue light. Ships and flying-mechanisms went to death by hundreds in space all around us. Our cruisers still strove to smash down through the machines to the surface of the dark stars. For even while this wild combat went on above them, the dark stars were still steadily towing their captive suns on out into space. The flying-mechanisms outnumbered us two to one, and despite our wild efforts we could not get through them to the worlds beneath. And more and more of our ships were exploding in azure light as the filaments of force found a mark. Three-quarters of our force had been destroyed and it looked as though the rest of us would be wiped out in a few minutes, when there came an order from the Chief. "All ships break off fighting and ascend!" ordered Lacq Larus. What cruisers were left us at once disengaged from the struggle and darted upward. The flying-mechanisms pursued us but we beamed them so savagely from above that they dropped back. We climbed two light-years before Lacq Larus gave our shattered forces the order to halt and resume formation. "The machines have destroyed all but a quarter of our ships," he said. "They outnumber us, and to continue the battle is only to invite complete destruction." "But, sir, we can't let them take those twenty suns away!" cried one of the captains on the space-phone. "I'm afraid we'll have to this time," Lacq Larus said. "But they will be coming back for more suns, and the next time we will be ready for them." "But, sir----" protested another officer, and was cut short by the Chief's grim voice. "I know how you of the Patrol feel at thus letting them take those suns away. But we can do no good by sacrificing ourselves at this time, and must have all the forces available to meet them when they come again. We will return into the galaxy, except for two scouting-divisions which will remain and keep watch along the edge." Grimly, with bitter thoughts, our shattered forces moved back into the galaxy, leaving the patrolling force behind. "Beaten!" Jhul Din exclaimed unbelievingly. "The Interstellar Patrol, beaten by those machines!"