"Hold it here, pilot," instructed the Chief, then spoke into the etheradio. "Lan Yotar here! My spacecar will stay by Sita till further notice. The Chief Scientist and Chief Scribe are with me. Communicate only when urgent. Ros Vinla, report to me when evacuation is accomplished. That is all." "I hear and obey," answered Ros Vinla. For hours that seemed years, the four men sat watching the scene of destruction through the telescopic lenses. Below them, space-ships of every size and description plunged into the chaos and rose again with survivors, hastening to land them on Mira, which was nearest, and returning to pick up more unfortunates from such parts of Rona as were not yet covered with lava or engulfed by earthquakes. Orderly Squadrons of the Spacefleet arrived from their respective planets, landed at their objectives, and took off with full loads of frantic Ronans. Freighters and private craft, including spacecars no larger than the Chief's, moved here and there, singly and in groups, darting in when they saw a chance and saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Finally Ros Vinla's voice sounded again, and by the fact that he had reverted to official phraseology, all knew that the emergency had passed: "Greeting from Ros Vinla, Commander of the Norgan Spacefleet, to Lan Yotar, Chief of the Council of Elders. Peace be with you. Evacuation accomplished. That is all." [Illustration: _The evacuation was successful._] * * * * * For a day and a half the full government of the Confederated Planets of Norga had sat in an Emergency Session. Decision after decision, concerning the welfare and temporary disposal of the Ronans had been proposed, voted on and passed or amended. At last they could concentrate on the problem that had been constantly in their minds since Rona had turned from a green and smiling planet to a hideous mass of glowing lava. Appropriately enough, it was Set Gori, the elected Ruler of Rona, who first brought it up for official debate. A tall and handsome figure, still wearing bandages over the burns sustained when he insisted on remaining at his post to the last, he rose and was granted permission to speak. "Elders and Rulers," he said. "As we all know, Rona supplied 56% of the food needed by our system. Rona is destroyed. What shall we do for food?" He sat down abruptly, whereon the Chief Scientist rose and, at a nod of assent from the Chief Scribe, replied. "Our unfortunate friend from Rona has put the matter in a nutshell. I will answer as briefly: I have spent all day yesterday in conference with my brother scientists, and we all agree there is only one solution. As the Norgan solar system cannot supply sufficient food for its inhabitants, we must look outside the system for a source of supply. "I move an expedition be sent into space to find an available planet suitable for our purpose." "I second the motion," said the Chief Astronomer.