Closer and closer the _Sofal_ crept toward her prey. A Soldier of Liberty, who had once been an officer in the Thoran navy, was at the wheel; no one was on deck but the members of the watch; in the lower deck house a hundred men were huddled waiting for the command to board; I stood beside Honan in the chart room (he was to command the _Sofal_ while I led the boarding party), my eyes upon the strange Amtorian chronometer. I spoke a word to him and he moved a lever. The _Sofal_ crept a little closer to the _Sovong_. Then Honan whispered an order to the helmsman and we closed in upon our prey. I hastened down the companionway to the main deck and gave the signal to Kamlot standing in the doorway of the deck house. The two ships were close now and almost abreast. The sea was calm; only a gentle swell raised and lowered the softly gliding ships. Now we were so close that a man could step across the intervening space from the deck of one ship to that of the other. The officer of the watch aboard the _Sovong_ hailed us. “What are you about?” he demanded. “Sheer off, there!” For answer I ran across the deck of the _Sofal_ and leaped aboard the other ship, a hundred silent men following in my wake. There was no shouting and little noise—only the shuffling of sandalled feet and the subdued clank of arms. Behind us the grappling hooks were thrown over the rail of the _Sovong_. Every man had been instructed as to the part he was to play. Leaving Kamlot in command on the main deck, I ran to the tower deck with a dozen men, while Kiron led a score of fighting men to the second deck where most of the officers were quartered. Before the officer of the watch could gather his scattered wits, I had him covered with a pistol. “Keep quiet,” I whispered, “and you will not be harmed.” My plan was to take as many of them as possible before a general alarm could be sounded and thus minimize the necessity for bloodshed; therefore, the need for silence. I turned him over to one of my men after disarming him; and then I sought the captain, while two of my detachment attended to the helmsman. I found the officer for whom I sought reaching for his weapons. He had been awakened by the unavoidable noise of the boarding party, and, suspecting that something was amiss, had seized his weapons as he arose and uncovered the lights in his cabin. I was upon him as he raised his pistol, and struck it from his hand before he could fire; but he stepped back with his sword on guard, and thus we stood facing one another for a moment. “Surrender,” I told him, “and you will not be harmed.” “Who are you?” he demanded, “and where did you come from?” “I was a prisoner on board the _Sofal_,” I replied, “but now I command her. If you wish to avoid bloodshed, come out on deck with me and give the command to surrender.” “And then what?” he demanded. “Why have you boarded us if not to kill?” “To take off provisions, weapons, and the Vepajan prisoners,” I explained.