"I don't like it," the gunnery officer added uneasily. "There must be life or what could have happened to all the other ships that vanished here?"
"That's what we're here to find out," said Commander Kellews. He gazed around with a fighting man's pride in the finest weapons that Earth science had been able to devise. This one ship itself could destroy the entire planet that lay so peacefully beneath them.
As Boyette knew, the mystery planet was necessary for further expansion from the solar system, lying as it did between their system and the nearest one. Yet, it had swallowed all ships that had landed.
"Look!" shouted the lookout, "that plateau's covered with ships."
Brisk instructions were relayed throughout the craft. The crew readied for any possible emergency. The Assault cruised forward, turrets bearing on the targets now dead ahead.
"Why, those are Earth-ships!" Commander Kellews exclaimed.
"And that's the Conquest!" Boyette blurted, forgetting himself.
All eyes centered on the sleek heavy cruiser squatting on the ground. She was a sister ship of the Assault and the first Patrol craft sent to investigate the planet. Practically every man aboard the Assault had personally known someone on her crew.
Smoke trailing from the center of the plateau caused brief excitement among the watchers. Their hopes fell when it was seen to emanate from a small lake of boiling lava. The molten rock seethed and bubbled, an indication of the fiery core that lay beneath.