They had come from far off Mars to draw out and discover the weaknesses of Earth--for the Great Invasion was not far in the offing and the Grand Councilor had deemed it wise to know in advance where best to strike and in what manner. Mars was in its final death throes and its inhabitants must soon immigrate to a new world or perish. Their sister planet, Earth, was best adapted to their particular form of life, thus it had been selected for subjugation to their purpose. The atoms that were Harl and Kir-Um were hurled, in a state of fluidity, through space, to be reassembled on Earth. For the purpose of escaping detection, they had assumed the bodies of terrestrials and now they stood, staring triumphantly out over this world that was soon to be theirs. The conquering hordes would follow later in spaceships, as soon as Harl and Kir-Um had gathered the necessary data. Harl spoke--mastering the strange vocal-cords with an ease that amazed him. To be sure, he spoke an alien, unintelligible tongue. We translate: "Well, Kir-Um, what now? We have arrived at our destination, but I haven't the slightest idea what to do next." Kir-Um pondered this a moment and eventually answered: "The situation suggests we first descend to the surface of this world and, from there, perhaps we can map a line of attack." "E-e-e-ump!" Harl made the noise, which, on Mars, denoted extreme pleasure. "Excellent, Kir-Um. How can a decadent civilization, such as this one undoubtedly is, stand against such brilliant minds as ours?" "You are right, as usual, Harl," Kir-Um agreed. "My analysis of the problem was only typical of a Martian. Now, let us proceed to the base of this crude structure." By diligent search, they finally located a stair leading downward and cautiously made their way into the bowels of the building. Reaching the fifth floor, Kir-Um placed a restraining hand on Harl's shoulder and pointed excitedly to a door at the far end of the hall. Light streamed from beneath it and glowed faintly through the frosted glass panel set in its upper half. Scarcely daring to breathe, they approached the door and stood, regarding it with apprehensive eyes. Harl noted the gold-leaf lettering on the glass panel, but the cryptic legend had no meaning to his Martian mind. But, to an Earthly member of that rabid army known as scientification fans, the words would have brought a tinge of awe. For this was the room where far-flung systems were denied existence, by one shake of a firm, unyielding head; where the most expressive cuss-words of super villains were brutally censored with a fiendish swipe of a little, blue pencil--the editorial office of _Galactic Adventures_. "Harl," Kir-Um whispered softly. "There's a _creature_ in that room! Do you not detect its thought vibrations?" Harl opened his mind to reception and stood a moment, as if in a trance. His eyes slowly dilated and he gasped in astonishment.