But Captain Hugh Warren's face had suddenly drained of color. Now his hands smashed open the ship's intercommunicating system, and he bawled, "_We're caught in an enemy tractor beam! All hands at battle stations! Stand by to repel boarders!_" But overlapping his command came that of a second voice, one crisp and cool and pleasantly amused, "I shouldn't if I were you, Captain. You see, we're already alongside, with our guns trained on you. It would be wiser to bow to the inevitable." "But what ... who...?" gasped Dr. Bryant. Hugh Warren turned from his controls with a shrug of resignation, and in a voice of gathering despair, "Troubles," he said, "never come singly. Now it's pirates." * * * * * Minutes later he was proven correct. There came the grating clamor of spacecraft in embrace, the hiss of opening airlocks, and into the _Liberty_ strode a band of Earthmen, bulger-clad and armed to the teeth. With the swift efficiency of long practice, these men dispersed throughout the ship to accomplish their marauding aims. Only their leader and a lieutenant refrained from piratical activity. These came to the bridge of the _Liberty_, and there with an ease and calmness Gary Lane found amazing under the circumstances, addressed themselves to the skipper of the invaded vessel. "Greetings, Captain. No hard feelings, I hope? If you'll just toss your sidearms over into the corner--There, that's better. No reason we shouldn't enjoy a pleasant little chat until my men have completed their mission." "Mission?" grated Warren savagely. "What mission? Damn your rascally hide, we're no merchantman. This is a cruiser of the Solar Space Patrol." The corsair chieftain chuckled pleasantly. "Why, yes, Captain. So we noticed. That's our mission. I thought it would be a good joke to stop you--just to see if we could, you know. And as a matter of proof, in case anyone should ever contest our claim, I've asked my men to remove the insignia from the uniforms of each of your crew. Sorry to seem impolite, Captain, but if you wouldn't mind tossing me your epaulettes ... just as a little souvenir, you know--" Hugh Warren's face, which had been apoplectic with rage, now froze in slack-jawed wonder. "J-joke!" he stammered. "Just to see if you could? Souvenir! There's only one pirate in space crazy enough to do a thing like this. You must be--" The marauder smiled amiably. "Well, now," he drawled, "that's right flattering of you, Captain. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is O'Day. Larkspur O'Day." CHAPTER VII Moon of Madness