His shirt was torn and the wound in his back was bleeding freely. Worse than that had been the sights he had seen on the way--women and children trampled underfoot, and the few neurotic souls who had given up and taken the short way out by leaping from windows. It was slaughter, even without the war, he thought. Humanity was destroying itself in senseless panic. And then he was in the wooded area that had grown close to the city. He pushed through the brush and trees until he found a small clearing. The mass of people streamed past it, anxious to put miles between themselves and the buildings that so obviously spelled destruction. He had waited for perhaps an hour when a small life boat rocket put down in the clearing. He looked at his watch before stepping aboard. Time had narrowed to three hours. CHAPTER XIII The war rockets from Avis' home system of Aurelia stretched through space like a thin, red string. There were more than a hundred there, Stan thought, but he knew without asking that they were hopelessly outnumbered by the Thuscan ships. The small rocket maneuvered over the lead ship--a hatch slid back--and the rocket settled slowly through the opening. A moment later and Stan was in the main cabin, facing half a dozen tired looking men wearing the same dull blue uniform as the man on the screen. They were supposed to be fighting men, Stan thought, but they didn't look the part. They looked more like frightened civilians who had been drafted. The man Stan had seen on the screen introduced himself as Elal and smiled wryly. "We're not the professionals you've associated with until lately, Martin. Fighting is something new for us. It will be a while before we achieve the hardened look of the warrior race." His voice was soft and tired. The voice of a man who had lost his spirit, who had ceased to hope. "What's the situation?" Stan asked. Elal shrugged. "You should have been able to size it up quickly. We are outnumbered--about ten to one, I would say. We had been hoping until the last minute that perhaps Avis would succeed, that she would be able to prevent the subversion of the planet." "Just what would that have accomplished?" "You Terrans are not without the means of defense," Elal pointed out. "In many ways you may be backward and primitive but you have deadly weapons. And a planet, strongly organized for resistance, would be very difficult for the Thuscans to take over. They have never succeeded in storming one outright. They have always had to rely on infiltration." "Your weapons aren't puny either," Stan said. "You have the time fields." "They have limited application--they are good for only small fields and only for short times. And the Thuscans have neutralizers." Another man, who looked oddly familiar, spoke up. "What's happened to Avis?" Her father, Stan guessed shrewdly. "She was captured by Tanner." There was a short silence and the men looked oddly helpless.