"Are you sure?"
"Positive, sir. I was on her long enough to know."
"Blast it! Then what—?"
Roger suddenly interrupted Strong. "Sir, look at her over the magnascope! She's been abandoned!"
The Solar Guard captain quickly turned to the magnascope screen. There he saw a close-up view of the target. It was a helpless derelict. All emergency ports were open and the jet-boat locks were empty.
Strong's face grew pale and he slumped back in his chair.
"What—what do you suppose happened, sir?" asked Roger hesitantly.
"It's easy enough to figure," Strong replied, his voice dull and lifeless. "Coxine is using more than one ship now. And when this one was damaged, he simply transferred to another one. He's outfoxed us again!"
Slowly, with wooden legs, he walked over to the teleceiver.
"Attention all ships! Resume former search stations. All we've caught here is a red herring!"