Now reverse the problem. Let us draw it away from the sun. Now the orbit is longer, and it has lost speed in moving from the sun. It cannot stay here, it is not in equilibrium, unless the force that drew it out is maintained. To free the planet from the sun, one would have to lift hundreds of quintillions of tons of rock through billions of miles, against the terrific gravity of the sun. It is too much. Thus we see that as long as the planet revolves in its orbit, it will never fall, and to pull it away from the sun is impossible as long as it revolves in its orbit. But if it slows down in its flight about the sun it at once has less centrifugal force. It automatically falls toward the sun until it has gained velocity enough to establish a new orbit of equilibrium. If this energy, too, is withdrawn; if it is made to stand still in its orbit; it will fall straight to the sun. It is the only way such a thing might be done. And it would take the energies of matter, and strain that to the utmost, to accomplish it. This was the plan of the Sirians. Three million ships were dragging like a Titanic brake on the planet as it wheeled in its orbit, and slowly, steadily it was falling into the blazing furnace of the sun. Their ships were not designed for this task, but they could do it in the sixty hours at their disposal. In a short time it would be falling directly toward the sun, but it would take many hours for the seventy-million-mile fall. Even if it were stopped before it reached the sun, any place within twenty million miles would be unbearable. It was the distressed planet itself that warned the people on Earth and the men of the fleet that the Sirians would never reach Earth, for the radio was still dead. But the fleet turned for Venus at once. They were far to one side of the path to Venus, and they would have to turn, but it would take them thirty, instead of sixty hours to reach Venus. And the other fleet was coming from Earth. They were not quite a million strong, but those machines that had been produced on Venus would come also, and that would bring the total numbers up to over a million, and with the main fleet the number would be well over two million. There were also three hundred of the long range Dis ray ships now, for many more had been produced and Venus would supply an equal number. * * * * * We can only admire the wise action of the Commandant of the Venerian fleet, Mals Hotark, in not sending his pitiful fleet of a few thousand out to fight with the Sirians. The members wanted to, the people of Venus wanted him to, but he wisely waited until he saw the fleets of the System approaching. It would have done no good, and lost many lives, and valuable ships to have gone in advance to the attack.