"We were all out that night, trying to keep watch on the camps near the capital. We didn't know which one Glenna was in but I was sure the Vininese would try to reach her after they got your teleray message. We counted on the Vininese leading us to her and we knew we had to kidnap her first if we were to keep them from learning about the Plan on Agron. "Unfortunately I wasn't with the group that picked you up, Eddie. They thought they had taken a Vininese leader and it seemed such a suitable punishment to take your disk away and let you hear the sound for a while. Later--after you'd escaped--when the others described your Air-Command uniform I took a chance and sent my note." He helped Dirrul to his feet. "You'll have to take over from here on in, Eddie. You said you knew how to pilot this thing. I figured out a take-off but that's as far as I can go." "Sorgel's pilot showed me once," he said. "What I don't remember I'll improvise. He said a Space-dragon could make the run in thirty days. This baby's got to do it in less than twenty-five if we're going to beat the Vininese fleet to Agron." "You didn't tell them the Plan, did you, Eddie?" "No." "The Vininese won't land without instructions." "Sorgel may get up enough courage to send a teleray code. We can't take any chances either." Dirrul drove himself without rest. He cut every corner he knew, used every trick of navigational skill he had ever learned. Nonetheless it was twenty-eight days before the little ship hung in the air over the Agronian capital. His heart sank. On the space-field, in neat ranks, the Vininese space-fleet was drawn up in proud review. The planet had fallen! Dirrul made his decision instinctively. The Space-dragon wheeled and swept low over the field, its vicious guns blazing. The yellow clouds of destruction swept up toward the sky--the little ship was caught in the blazing flame. The interplanetary freight sheds loomed ahead. And the world exploded, falling apart into a soothing painless silence. * * * * * Dirrul opened his eyes and looked at the neutral blue of a hospital ceiling. Gradually he became conscious of Dr. Kramer, seated by the bed. "Dr. Kramer!" Dirrul whispered. "Then everything's all right." "If by everything you mean your companions, yes. There's even a chance we can restore the girl's hearing." "And the Vininese?" "Defeated." "Dr. Kramer, we've got to destroy the Confederacy! I saw their transmitters--I know how their system works." "Hush, Edward--I promised not to excite you. We know about it." "Then how could you have been foolish enough to let them land?" "It seemed a pity not to give a few of their people another chance. It's working out quite nicely too." "I don't follow you, Dr. Kramer."