Someone slapped his face, a voice sounded urgently in his ear. Ric opened his eyes and looked up at Tal Horan, whose lean face broke into a grin. "That's better. Kueelo must have hit you pretty hard!" Ric struggled up. His head ached. They were somewhere in a tiny room, and he could hear a thin whine of rocket-tubes under full blast. The Martian girl was standing near, her attention torn between the Earthman and a view-plate looking out into space. Ric walked a bit unsteadily to the view-plate. Far away in space he saw the _Valiant_ still plodding its course, but their Unit seemed to be blasting away from it at a sharp tangent! "Dar Mihelson anticipated trouble with the Earth Fleet," Tal Horan answered Ric's puzzled glance. "No spores are going to Earth, but he's determined to fight if necessary. We only want a place to live, Earthman, until we can get back to Mars and wipe out that red plague!" "The name's Ric Martin. But look, Tal ... Mihelson mustn't fight! He can't possibly stand against Wessell's fleet!" "I've counselled against it, but Mihelson is Commander and he's determined if it comes to a showdown--" "Look!" The girl was pointing into the view-plate. Far ahead of the _Valiant_, across thousands of miles of space, they could see a tiny pin-point of moving light. The Earth Fleet was moving out fast. "Tal ... Ric Martin is right. It will mean annihilation for our people. But the _Valiant_ has speed! If we could only get a message through to Mihelson...." Ric strode to the door, tested it. It was locked. He turned back to Tal. "Where's Kueelo and his pal?" "Busy at the controls, I guess. They threw us in here." Quickly Ric searched through his pockets, brought out a disc a few inches in diameter, with a milky-white crystallized facing. Inside were highly sensitized coils, and it was rimmed with a sliding sheathe. "Short distance trans-telector," he explained. "Now if I can only get the _Valiant's_ wave-length!" He clicked a switch and manipulated the dials with swift surety. A bit of crackling came through but nothing more. He increased the power. "Afraid we're out of range, and we're moving away fast! Wait...." The dial began to glow with an inner light. A man's face appeared there, rather fuzzy and indistinct. Ric moved the dials infinitesimally and a faint voice was heard. "Quickly!" Ric held the disc to Tal Horan's lips. But the girl came forward. "Allow me, Tal! It is time that Dar Mihelson knew...." She spoke crisply. "Unit Twenty-six calling the _Valiant_! We're moving away fast so listen carefully, Dar Mihelson! You must not fight--it would mean destruction! Look to your magni-plates ... use your speed, and stay out of Earth Fleet's range!" Mihelson's answer filtered through, something about "Fight to the death...." The girl's eyes flashed, she became magnificent. Her voice took a tone of unmistakable authority.