Otto and his mobile units had taken a run-out powder. But, as Biggs had hunched it, they hadn't gone far. Just into their spaceships which lay a few yards below the placid surface of the artificial lake beside the governor's mansion. Under Biggs' directions, McMurtrie's men got going. Their first move was to dump a holdful of ordinary tablesalt, residue of a cargo we had never completely discharged, into the lake. That was screwy enough, and drew a murmur from the Old Man. His murmur changed to a moan when they followed this move by dumping into the lake those bins of silver ore which Biggs had mentioned. Then came the whackiest part of all. Biggs implanted one of the two metal uprights MCMurtrie had forged for him in the southernmost extremity of the lake. Then--with the help of a tractor crew, of course; the things were twenty feet long--he set its mate at the other end of the lake, connected wires from the posts to the hypatomic motors of our ship. All this took time, naturally. A lot of time. Maybe too much time. Because he had scarcely finished these preparations when there came a message from the commandant of the S.P. flagship: "Ahoy, Iris! S.P. Cruiser Pollux approaching. Clear cradles for official landing!" Our physical labor completed, we were back in my radio turret now. As we picked up this omniwave call, Biggs spun to me excitedly. "Sparks--contact Steichner immediately!" I twisted the dials, finally succeeded in picking up the wavelength of the submerged Irisian governor's set. Biggs spoke clearly over the audio. "Governor Steichner, this is Lt. Lancelot Biggs aboard the _Saturn_. Can you hear me?" Steichner's reply shot back savagely. "I can, Lieutenant. Have patience. I will take care of you when this other little matter has been attended to." "I called to warn you," said Biggs expressionlessly, "that you are in gravest peril. I am offering you a chance to surrender peaceably. Will you do so?" Steichner's answer isn't printable. It was a blunt refusal. Biggs sighed. "Very well, Governor. Then let me issue this final warning: Do not attempt to lift gravs from your present location! And do not attempt to use your ordnance. To do so will be to court instant and terrible death!" "Why, you--!" spluttered back Steichner's retort. But Biggs had turned from the audio, pressed a stud activating the hypoes of our ship. A dull growl surged about us as the powerful motors stirred into action. I stared at him questioningly. "What are you trying to do, Lanse? Scare Steichner into surrendering?" "No, Sparks. I meant every word I said. Look at the lake." * * * * * I flashed on the visilens, swung it to cover outside. And what I saw there broke a gasp from my lips. The surface of the lake was alive with tiny, frothy bubbles. The whole lake was seething with motion. Cap Hanson cried, "Sweet saint, now I understand! You--you've turned that lake into a stew-kettle! You're boilin' 'em alive!"