Two brief years now remained to them. Expeditions to many of the younger stars within range of their great projectors were made, but always they brought back bad news. Here they found no habitable planets; there the sun had not yet developed planets, and there was no time to stop to make and cool off a planet. That would require a century, even for one as small as Mercury. They must migrate to Betelguese. But Toralk, the mighty sun without planets, was kept in mind. If necessary, they could make the planet, and while it cooled, float in space, living in their mighty ships, making air and food and all their needs from matter torn from the sun. The great battle fleet of thirty thousand ships was ready. Each ship, two thousand one hundred feet long and three hundred feet beam, was ready to start. They merely awaited the hoped-for weapon. At last it was discovered. Another of the test trips was made. Three small ships went, and one sender, that they might return. In the depths of space they were re-integrated, and now they slowly proceeded to the blazing star before them, then hovered near one of the circling planets. In a moment they were discovered, and literally thousands of the glowing creatures darted up from the green, brightly lighted world below. These creatures had learned that these ships were hostile and as they drew near, they were already changing to that fatal violet, streaked with red. Great flaming streamers of force reached out to the ships, but in that instant the ships suddenly seemed to shimmer, as an object seen through heated air, and around them there was a strange, pale radiance, a radiance that seemed to have substance. It seemed to flow, to move, yet always remained as a strange, half-visible, milky shroud, that surrounded the ships. And then the streamers of glowing death reached out--touched it--and disappeared! The creature leaped back, as though in pain, writhing away. The usual color of the creature was suffused by a pale, but growing green--then as the red was more and more overcome by the rising green, the glowing shape grew misty--then like a puff of vapor before a breeze it was gone--the great Atomic Giant had been mortally wounded and before their eyes, had died. Instantaneous dissolution had taken place. The others held back in fear. There was something new to combat and they went cautiously. Now there leapt out from the nose of the ship a long beam of the milky, glowing ray--it touched one of the great creatures--there was a slight flash of light--and it was gone. Then the glowing ray swept around and erased those forms there in space, erased them as one might wipe the image from the screen with the flick of the switch. And then, precipitately they fled. They were beaten; they could not attack this new ship. * * * * *