It was inevitable, and it came from all sides. Across the plains of Mephisto came the tractor-mounted projectors. Maynard thought of the disperser screen, but behind that they were blind. "Isn't there something better than this useless barrier?" he asked. "Not that we know of," answered Williamson. "Look, Ben, you take a hunk of that crew of yours and go out to the East, to sector G-21, and blast the power-conversion plant. Take the entire city if you have to. But get that plant!" "I'll get it," said Williamson, and left. Maynard turned to Hamilton. "And you, Jack, get some of your heavies into action against sector A-13. You know the target we want destroyed." "I sure do. And I'll get it!" He turned to the commanding officer of the forces that arrived with the reinforcements. "Can you hold them to the north, south, and west? If so, can you advance to the east?" "That's quite a job." "Can you?" demanded Maynard. The other man looked at Maynard's nebula and then down at his own rayed star. "I'll try," he said. "No, Walter, say 'I'll do it!' and then try. We're counting on you." There was a three-mile border around the hundred square miles of Terran-held Mephisto. It was a terrible border now. It was a solid mass of flame and fragment, and it was creeping inward slowly. Saturation destruction, it was called, and if successful, obliterated not only the enemy, but also his traces. Above, the circling of tiny fighter ships darkened the sky, and the rain of broken ships became dangerous. And then a wave of intense hatred filled Maynard. It was so violent that he found himself climbing the roof of his shelter to man one of the AutoMacMillans himself. He got control of himself, and saw that all the Terrans in the field of his sight were positively writhing in hatred. Shaking his head in wonder, Maynard returned to his scanning room and watched the luminous map of operations. He was amazed to see that the sides of the square held by the Terrans were advancing, closing down that barrier of fire that bordered the square. The east side, which should have advanced slowly, was rocketing forward at a dizzy pace. The wave of hatred diminished, and so did the swift advance. The battle settled down to a continuous roar. Hamilton's group returned and as the sector commander landed to report, his command roared through the skies above the embattled defenders of the planet and poured destruction down upon them. Hamilton came in and told Guy: "We did it, but what a cost!" "Bad?" "Terrible. They hacked at us all the way there and all the way back--and when we got there, that place was defended like Sahara Base itself." "But you got the target?" "We did." "Good. Can you get the target in sector L-14 now?" "If my command holds out." "Go ahead then--and we'll meet you at Area 2. Don't return here at all." "I get it. You're going to abandon this place?"