He was balefully angry at that; he leaped to his feet, thrusting out the revolver. "If I throw another slug into you, it just might hurt some more," he roared. "I would rather die in pain than see your questions answered. I know well that curiosity is the worst torment to an Englishman." "I'm not English," said Pink. "It's all the same. I might as well have said 'human.'" Pink recalled that he had the Colt, and so could take a few chances. "I'll trade you. One drop of brandy for each answer." It considered. Then, without budging, it gave the effect of a shrug. "Why not? You'll be dead soon." "You're so sure," said Pink. "Look at your scanner." There was something in the words that sent Pink racing. He was only just in time to see the finish of all his new-born hopes. The _Cottabus_ and _Diogenes_ were approaching at a slowing pace; the _Elephant's Child_ had deactivated her drive to wait for them. Whether the captains of the sister ships saw them or not, Pink could not tell; but a number of the space giants, so reduced in size as to be mere blots on the screen, hovered in the area. As the ships gradually lost speed, a giant appeared atop each, growing rapidly from eight feet to a thousand, till they straddled the great ships like riders on Shetland ponies. The thing on the floor chuckled. "We are much more comfortable at that size, you see, Captain. We don't like to cramp our molecular structure into these puny dimensions. We can get into bottles--but we prefer to expand as you see." Then it laughed. "Yes, there is one of us on your own flagship at this instant, where he has been waiting, compressed, till the others caught their seats. Your ships are captured as surely as in a net. You cannot dislodge them, as you know. You must carry them to Earth so, or capitulate and let them inside." There was no scrap of fear that he would carry these devils to Earth, naturally. But for the moment, Pink could see no sure way to escape the doom that now lay over him and all his men. They would have to remain in this asteroid belt ... perhaps forever. CHAPTER XV The three spaceships lay together in the void. In the _Elephant's Child_, 57 men, seven officers, and Circe Smith were seated in the demolished recreation room, which was the only place besides the mess hall with enough chairs to accommodate them all. Radio communication with the other ships was handled over an extension set connected to the main radio room by a triple quancord laid down with furious energy by Sparks. "What we need, and need fast, is this," said Pinkham. "A method by which we can project lead, in pellets or spray or any damn form, with accuracy, using our platinum guns. There aren't any other weapons that will fire from within."