“Those poor fellows--the pirates, that is! When the pirates told Monty they were going to land whether he wanted them to or not, why, he just called the greegles for help. They cut four of the ships into pieces in a matter of seconds, leaving the crew floating in their spacesuits. Then they grabbed them with some sort of invisible grappling beam or something and herded them toward the fifth ship. That ship gathered them in and took off.” Now George laughed out loud. “They got the message real fast! _Go away and don’t come back!_ And they scrammed! Never even set foot on Montezuma’s Castle. Monty will make good use of the floating space junk the pirates left. Serves ’em right!” Just then a gentle buzz sounded. “That’s the call for dinner, friends. Come meet the others!” Almost immediately another sound came through the communications system--an urgent clangor. St. George’s face became taut and a look of surprise and anxiety came over his features. “What’s that?” asked Zip. “It’s the alarm,” St. George whispered. “It’s never sounded before.” The alarm abruptly shut off and an excited, panic-stricken voice came through the intercom. “Five ships approaching! Coming in fast! They’re commanding all hands to come to the landing field and threatening to destroy the whole operation if we don’t cooperate! They’ve already started to destroy the base!” 5: The Destruction of Z25 JOE dashed from the room and sped down the hallway to the control center of the mining base. Each strike of a laser beam colored the interior of the buildings with ruby red as the attackers’ targets were vaporized, and the flashes were coming with disturbing frequency. He hurled himself into the tiny office where a frantic young man sat at a console. “We’re going to die!” cried the young man. Joe looked through the large window and saw five ships hovering over the base. Their laser cannons were rapidly destroying the outlying parts of the mining base. There were no defensive weapons. Joe glanced at the radar screen and his hair stood up as he saw that the screen showed nothing. To the surveillance system, the ships were invisible. The technician was babbling in abject, helpless fear, but Joe’s pulse leaped when he realized that the frightened young man might be right. They could all be dead at any moment. The man fled the room crying. Joe looked out the window again and saw that laser cannons had begun to destroy the ships. Through the horrifying, rapidly expanding concentric vapor shells, he saw the _Vigilant Warrior_ crumpling into a heap. The other ships were either completely destroyed or well on the way. “What is this? Who are they?” exclaimed Mark. He, Zip, and George had followed Joe to the control center and were watching the laser beams sweep the landing field. The ships were being indiscriminately reduced to molten slag.