A rapidly repeated pip-pip-pip came from the cm board. Bill leaped to it. A light, under a small screen showing a robot, was blinking. He pressed the button. The robot saluted. His Id was stamped across his chrome chest, with four gold stars after it. "We will be destroyed, sir," it said. "Would suggest Flagship _Rover_ change course forty degrees at eight o'clock and go on without fleet." "You're giving orders?" Bill said, his face going pale and his eyes narrowing--not at the impending defeat, but at this sign of independent initiative in a robot. "It's your only chance for survival," the robot said. "It must be done at once." "Place yourself under ship arrest and give me the next in command," Bill ordered sharply. The screen went blank. "That's mutiny!" he shouted, unbelieving. Vilbis, behind his glass wall, laughed aloud. "Not mutiny," Paul said. "They are gone. All our ships are gone!" His voice conveyed the incredulous horror in his mind. In the tri-di there was only the bright blue dot, and the thousands of approaching ships of the enemy. The next instant the ship lurched violently. "They're boarding!" Bill shouted. "But they aren't going to get Vilbis back alive." He leaped to a locker and opened it with clumsy fingers, bringing out a g.i. raygun. He turned to leap toward the glass wall separating him from Vilbis. Before he could take a step a large section of a bulkhead vanished in smoke. For a brief instant Bill and Paul stared with unbelieving eyes at what entered the room. Then they died. "Stop!" The word exploded from Vilbis's lips. He stared at the cooked flesh that had been his captors. Then his eyes lifted to the jagged hole in the bulkhead. "You fools!" he spat. His lips curled with cold anger. "Where do you hope to get two other humans now?" * * * * * The demobilization station trailed the Earth, a million and a half miles behind and in the same orbit around the Sun. It was shaped like a thick disc. At the moment there were five ships resting against one surface of the station. Three of them were warships. One was a Federation ship. The fifth was a giant freighter with _SURPLUS JUNK CO._ painted on it in bold blue letters. Each of the five ships was attached to the space station underneath its hulk by short airlocks containing elevators. These led down into the station where air pressure was kept at fifteen pounds. Inside the station, robots were emerging from the elevators leading to the three warships. The robots were all identical except for their Id numbers across their metallic chests. Arms and legs of metal rods and joints in almost exact duplication of human bones, torso shaped like a metal box, short neck joint supporting a head that was little more than two four inch glass lenses, two rod-microphones, and a small voice box.