"Yes," I said. "I do." We entered the dim helio cubby. "See here, Waters, what about the projectile that ascended from Earth last night? Did the Washington observatory report what happened to it?" "No, not a word. They lost it, evidently." Our 'scopes on the _Cometara_ had not been able to locate the projectile. The large instruments of Earth had lost it. Was that because, with tremendous velocity, it had sped directly for the new planet out beyond Mars? Or, with some form of invisibility, might it be close to us now, just as the lurking ship might be somewhere around here? From the little circular helio cubby, perched here under the dome like an eagle's nest, I could see down all the length of the ship, and out the side ports of the dome to the blazing firmament. The Sun, Moon and Earth and all the starfield were silently turning as Drac swung us upon our new course. Waters bent over the projector of the Benson curve-light, making connections. The cubby was silent and dim, with only a tiny spotlight where Waters was working, and a glow upon his table where his recent messages from Earth were filed. Grantline and I glanced at them. Panic in Greater New York, Grebhar, and Ferrok-Shahn. The three strange beams which the enemy had planted on Earth, Venus and Mars still remained unchanged. I could see them now plainly from the helio cubby windows, great shafts of radiance sweeping the firmament. Waters straightened from his task. "That will do it, Mr. Haljan." He met me in the center of the cubby. "When you locate the enemy, do you think they'll destroy us as they did those other ships?" Grantline laughed grimly. "Maybe so, Waters. But let's hope not." Fat little Waters was anything but a coward, but being closed up here all these hours with a stream of dire messages from Earth had shaken him. "What I mean, Mr. Grantline, is that prudence is sometimes better than reckless valor. The _Cometara_ is no warship. If Earth had sent an international patrol vessel...." Grantline did not answer. He joined me at the Benson projector. "Can we operate it from here, Gregg, or will you mount it in the bow?" "From here. Drac's swinging. When he's on the course I gave him, I can throw the Benson-ray through the bow dome-port. Waters, you're all done in. Go below and sleep awhile." But he stood his ground. "No, sir; I don't want to sleep." "We've had ours," said Grantline. "We'll call you if anything shows up." We sent Waters away. "Ready, Gregg?" "Yes. I've got the range." The coils hummed and heated with the current, and in a moment the Benson curve-beam leaped from the projector.