"Yes, Ronaro," his thought was sharp and urgent, "what is it?"
"Number Two port engine out," telepathed his deputy. "Number One turret out."
"That is bad. Prepare our personal lifeboat for immediate use. It may become necessary to abandon ship."
"Right away," acknowledged Ronaro. But even as he turned to carry out the order, Ekrado caught the indication of a half-formed question in his mind.
"You have doubts, Ronaro," he challenged. "Out with them."
"If we abandon ship now, how can we carry our message?"
"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.