Ric walked a bit unsteadily to the view-plate. Far away in space he saw the Valiant still plodding its course, but their Unit seemed to be blasting away from it at a sharp tangent!
"Dar Mihelson anticipated trouble with the Earth Fleet," Tal Horan answered Ric's puzzled glance. "No spores are going to Earth, but he's determined to fight if necessary. We only want a place to live, Earthman, until we can get back to Mars and wipe out that red plague!"
"The name's Ric Martin. But look, Tal ... Mihelson mustn't fight! He can't possibly stand against Wessell's fleet!"
"I've counselled against it, but Mihelson is Commander and he's determined if it comes to a showdown—"
"Look!" The girl was pointing into the view-plate. Far ahead of the Valiant, across thousands of miles of space, they could see a tiny pin-point of moving light. The Earth Fleet was moving out fast.
"Tal ... Ric Martin is right. It will mean annihilation for our people. But the Valiant has speed! If we could only get a message through to Mihelson...."
Ric strode to the door, tested it. It was locked. He turned back to Tal. "Where's Kueelo and his pal?"
"Busy at the controls, I guess. They threw us in here."
Quickly Ric searched through his pockets, brought out a disc a few inches in diameter, with a milky-white crystallized facing. Inside were highly sensitized coils, and it was rimmed with a sliding sheathe.
"Short distance trans-telector," he explained. "Now if I can only get the Valiant's wave-length!"