"We have no choice; this ship will never carry us to distant Alar. Our communication apparatus is wrecked beyond repair. We must contact a civilized race on one of the planets of this sun and win their cooperation--or Alar will never get our message." "Never get our message!" echoed Ronaro, shocked. "Don't float there thinking of failure. We must and will succeed. Now, off to the lifeboat. I'm going to try to dodge behind a planetary body of this system." The Captain gave the orders for a change of course, and the speeding ship turned on a long arc as it swung its bow in towards the center of the planetary system. The maneuver gained them a brief respite, as the Ru'ukonian swept on past before the pilot could react to the change of course. The superior speed of the other cruiser soon told, however, and the Alarian ship rocked again as another beam struck it. An excited subordinate swam up, waving his five tentacles frantically. "Captain," he telepathed, "the water-purifying plant has been hit. A beam went right through where Number Five turret used to be. The auxiliary plant was knocked out when Number Two engine exploded." "We'll abandon ship," decided the Captain. "Some of the lifeboats should reach planets. Set the controls to plunge the ship into the sun of this system." * * * * * The junior officer made the necessary adjustments to the controls. With a flick of one tentacle he set the automatic alarm broadcaster into action and swam hastily after his Captain. The metallic command, "Abandon Ship! Abandon Ship!" rang through his mind as the device started functioning. The Captain was already at the controls of the lifeboat. Ronaro dove after him. A moment later the lifeboat had slipped through the lock into space, darting away from the wounded giant at full speed. "Several small planets held by this star, Captain," reported Ronaro. "I see them," telepathed Ekrado. "You keep a watch on the enemy and look to see if any other lifeboats escape. I'll steer for the most likely planet." As Ronaro watched through the rear-view vision screen, first one and then another darted away from the Alarian hulk until he could count a total of five. "Rendezvous instructions?" asked Ronaro mentally. "Third planet from the sun," ordered Ekrado. "We're in luck, Ronaro, the planet is mostly water--plenty of room to swim around in. I'll pick one of the ocean areas to land in and inform the other boats by beacon signals of our exact location." Even as Ronaro adjusted the communication amplifier to direct his mental command to the scattered lifeboats behind them, a more ominous picture appeared on the screen. The bright red halo that warned of approaching atomic torpedoes blossomed forth on the image of the enemy cruiser. The single halo gradually broke into smaller red circles as the cluster spread apart in space. [Illustration: _They were next. Could they evade the atomic torpedoes?_]