"My oath," said Guy, "was intended to set up a condition in which a man will do the best thing for his homeland. That I am doing." "You think so." "They'll all think so." "I am defeated," repeated Monogon. "I hope to see the day when you are caught." "You may, at that." "But to what end are you working? You fought Terrans. You fight us. Why?" "Monogon, you have a super vortex machine set up on Phobos. Terra has one on Luna. You now know that the vortex will not kill on a single try. But how much less dead will the entire System be if either of us fires?" "I ... yes, the speed will permit you to fire once we have fired. You would be able to detect the operation of the projector hours before the toroid envelops Terra." "And with no one alive to awaken any of us--those who are not on Terra will fight one another to the death--vortexes will be coming from every solid body in the Solar System within a week. Do you think I want that?" "You hope to accomplish something?" asked Monogon. "What--and how and why?" "I hope to unify. I cannot appeal directly because of my ... my traitorous past. But Monogon, I can and will fight to the last breath to try my plan. Never forget Ertene, Monogon. They'll be here next, looking for me--or something. They've got to have their trouble, and they well know that a good offense is the best defense. They've got vortexes too, you know. As a last resort, they'll fire on us both. What I've got to do is to hold off both Mars and Terra--and then go out and take Ertene!" "Madness." "Necessary. Ertene must be brought in, so that she will depend on Sol and the rest of us." "You're mad, Guy Maynard. Stark mad. But I agree with you. The vortex is deadly, and with things at the breaking-point as they are now, oblivion is but a step. Can you believe me?" "Yes," smiled Guy. He tapped the thought-instrument and explained. "Then you can also believe me when I offer you my aid?" "Yes." "I'll make no move against Mars, understand." "I'll not ask you to. You'll go to--" The radiation alarm broke. "What's up?" asked Maynard. "Nothing dangerous. We just uncovered a Terran crate trying to run through us under a barrier." Maynard looked at Monogon. "We'd better hurry," he told the Martian. "They'll be tearing up the Solar System before we can stop them." The combined fleet increased its acceleration towards Mephisto. * * * * * The spaceport on Mephisto became a mad place. Terran ships stood plate to plate against Martian ships, and the sky above the port was interlaced with the invisible communication beams that connected incoming and outgoing ships. At no time was the sky ever completely clear of spacecraft.