The six catmen got above Lane's ship and drove him downward with pressors and an occasional light--it must have been very light--touch of the belly-tearing beam. Above the six were the sixty-odd Solarians fighting to get through and fighting a useless battle. * * * * * "We can't damage 'em," snarled Lane. "Superdrive--right through 'em!" He almost made it. His ship rammed up under the stellar drive, came level with the screen of catmen, and almost made it through. But four of them reached forth with the belly-tearing beams and took separate parts of his ship. The warning creak of plates caused the pilot to stop. Lane's ship was thrust down below again. "Superdrive--away!" Lane's ship turned and dropped. The action was too fast for the Solarian crew, and he left them far behind. But the catmen were right with him all the way. "Cut it," said Lane in a tired voice. "Let 'em play. Save our strength for later when we can do something." They went inert. No drive, no sign of fight, no objection. A side-force hit them, slapping the ship sidewise about fifty feet. It jarred the ship's delicate mechanisms into a short fluster of unreal alarms and ringing signals, but the sturdy stuff was not permanently damaged. Still no response from Cliff's ship. They poked him down brutally with a pressor and then jerked him back up again. More alarms and more nosebleed among the crew. They caught the ship in force-zones and played catch with it from one catman to the other, poking and thrusting. They ripped off one of the turrets with the snatcher. Then they stopped. And they waited. Quietly they hung above Lane's ship, watching, watching, watching. A full, solid, nerve-breaking hour they waited, and the men in Lane's ship waited, wondering. "Try it!" snapped Lane. The ship leaped into motion, driving to one side. Snatchers raced out and caught the fleeing ship, dragged it back, and again they went through the pushing, pulling, tossing program. And then again they stopped with a few, final perfunctory pokes and shoves. "They're catmen, all right," snarled Lane. The rest of the Solar Guard came up, and once more they tried to break through the screen to free Lane's ship. Lane shook his head. "Pilot. How long under superdrive before we hit the speed of light?" "Seven minutes." "Then drive straight down. I don't think any beam can exceed the speed of light. Once we get up there, they can't reach forward after us, at least." Lane's ship dropped. And the catmen followed, maintaining their distance with superior balance and accuracy. A minute passed. Two. Three. Four. Five. And then at an even six, a snatcher reached forward and took Lane's ship by the empennage and shook it enough to rend a few seams. "O.K., cut it," he said wearily. "I wonder what they want of us beside to play cat-and-mouse?"