"Do that, please. And take personal charge of the forward projectors, will you? Mr. Hendricks, will you command the after projectors? Mr. Kincaide and I will carry on here." "Shall we open upon them at will, or upon orders, sir?" asked Correy. "Upon orders," I said. "And you'll get your orders as soon as they're in range; I have a feeling we're in for trouble." "I hope so, sir!" grinned Correy from the door. Hendricks followed him silently, but I saw there was a deep, thoughtful frown between his brows. "I think," commented Kincaide quietly, "that Hendricks is likely to be more useful to us in this matter than Correy." I nodded, and bent over the television disk. The things were perceptibly nearer; the hurtling group nearly filled the disk, now. There was something horribly eager, horribly malignant, in the way they shone, so palely red, and in the fashion in which their blunt tentacles reached out toward the _Ertak_. I glanced up at the Earth clock on the wall. "The next hour," I said soberly, "cannot pass too quickly for me!" * * * * * We had decelerated steadily during the hour, but we were still above maximum atmospheric speed when at last I gave the order to open the invaders with disintegrator rays. They were close, but of course the rays are not as effective in space as when operating in a more favorable medium, and I wished to make sure of our prey. I pressed the attention signal to Correy's post, and he answered instantly. "Ready, Mr. Correy?" "Ready, sir!" "Then commence action!" Before I could repeat the command to Hendricks, I heard the deepening note of the atomic generators, and knew Correy had already begun operations. Together, and silently, Kincaide and I bent over the television disk. We watched for a moment, and then, with one accord, lifted our heads and looked into each other's eyes. "No go, sir," said Kincaide quietly. I nodded. It was evident the disintegrator rays were useless here. When they struck into the horde of crescent-shaped things coming so hungrily toward us, the things changed from red to a sickly, yellowish pink, and seemed to writhe, as though in some discomfort, but that was all. "Perhaps at closer range...?" ventured Kincaide. "I think not. If Mr. Hendricks is correct--and I believe he is--these things aren't material; they're not matter, as we comprehend the word. And so, they can't be disintegrated." "Then, sir, how are we to best them?" "First, we'll have to know more about them. For one thing, their mode of attack. We should know very soon. Please recall Mr. Hendricks, and then order all hands to their posts. We may be in for it." * * * * * Hendricks came rushing in breathlessly. "The rays are useless, sir," he said. "They'll be on us in a few minutes. Any further orders?" "Not yet. Have you any ideas as to their mode of attack? What they can do to us?" "No, sir. That is, no reasonable idea."