"Wait, Wing!" Eliel cried out as Wing strode past the long narrow table, Dead-Eye's bulk dogging his heels. "You don't understand!" Wing spun around. "I don't understand?" he repeated, and his deep voice was harsh. "Look, you governors. There was only one way Earth could have licked this force field. Someone would have found the way out--the way to chop this blue flower off at its source if you hadn't taken it away. "Scan back through Earth's history. Way back in the 15th century, a sea captain did the impossible. He crossed water as vast to him as space once was to us. He had a way. Earthmen flung their power at a dictator called Schickelgruber or some such name. It had been impossible to stop him. But a way was found." "Then the moon rocket. That was impossible, too. There was no way to break gravity chains without killing any living thing on the ship. But a way was found. Oh, there are scores of instances where Earthmen did the impossible. But they had something worth fighting for. Columbus his adopted country; the united nations their people; Dawson and his moon rocket, the welfare of a world." "We had Earth. Now what have we got? Not a mote of dust to call our own. _I_ don't understand! Hell, I hope the Mercurians use you to fire those ghastly gas pots they use here to keep Earth's air from poisoning them." Space Commander Curt Wing was balanced on the balls of his feet, leaning forward now, breathing hard, his fine-muscled body quivering as his dark eyes burned at the seven governors. Jan Eliel said quietly, "We know how you feel, Curt Wing. But there wasn't anything else we could do. Wait!" He held up his hand as Wing threatened to interrupt him. "We were like the fellow in the old story who stood at the gates of hell. He was damned if he opened the door and damned if he didn't." "We had two alternatives--an unknown enemy and a known enemy, and we needed time, so we chose to capitulate to Mercury. We recognized the blue flower for what it was--and we needed you. Until you switched from building atomics to piloting them, you had made the greatest advance in the force field." "We have time now--precious little since it will be only two weeks before the Mercurian fleet arrives with Mercury's Zhan Nekel. Earth still is ours. If you can solve the force field, we need not lose. We can turn it upon the Mercurians. They have fought with deceit and in this we must deceive them." Jan Eliel sat up stiffly in his chair. "Will you desert us, Curt Wing?" Wing's relaxed figure was their answer. The boyish grin which wiped the harsh planes of his face into softness was his promise. But Dead-Eye added emphasis, dragging his powder gun from his belt and waving it. "Elizabeth and me'll help!" he declared. * * * * *