Lucero shook her lovely head. "We began together, we shall end that way." There was unshakable determination in her quiet, husky voice. "Go and give the necessary orders ... it ... it ..." her voice broke slightly, "has been a glorious adventure, Mark!" He kissed her with infinite tenderness and tore himself away. Once in the control room, his tones were hard as beryloy as he issued command after command, and the gigantic spacers rose in a crescendo of sound toward the trackless void. He knew the ships had been rendered as formidable as was within their power, but even that was not enough, and the knowledge that countless millions faced certain death became a terrible anger and desperation within him. * * * * * The Europan Fleet in battle formation, assumed a staggered triangle, in tiers of ships that rendered it a three-dimensional wedge. Powerful super-armored spacers formed the frontal line, while the spacers they had been able to equip with atomic projectors guarded the sides, ready to meet encirclement. At the very apex rode the _Stellar Virgin_, with Palanth's sectional flagship the _Hellacorium_ one tier beneath. It was a magnificent sight, and viewing it through the Tele-Magnum, Mark had a momentary lift of pride. "Connect three-dimensional telecast," Mark ordered the robot, and instantly the tele-panel showed a scene as if it were an open window on the heavens. In the distance racing at unimaginable speed, the Terran Fleet flashed on majestically. Breathlessly, the watchers on two worlds eyed its inexorable approach. Suddenly, from the vanguard of the Terran Fleet a pencil of livid light speared an Europan Spacer, and the great transport seemed to disintegrate in space. Mark's knuckles were white as they tightened. "Maneuver and blast!" He roared into the radio, and in unison, but with vertiginous speed the Europa fleet became a single perpendicular line that spewed atom-blast in an awesome holocaust. But the Terran Fleet came on unscathed. Simultaneously converging beams of livid light shot out from its foremost cruisers and a score of Europan Spacers crumbled into dust. In desperation a flight of them hurled themselves suicidally against the driving Terran Fleet, and whorls of incandescence illumined the ghastly scene, and it was then that Mark saw several shattered Terran Spacers spinning down. "We have no chance!" Mark gritted as he saw the Europan Spacers disintegrated in the awful struggle. "Murderers!... We'll hurl all our remaining spacers against the Terran Fleet; if that's the only way to shatter them, that's the way it'll be!" As he was about to give the fateful command, the Panadur super-robot, who had accompanied them, lay a restraining metal hand on Mark Lynn's arm: