"But, sir," Jimmie protested, "our trajectory isn't listed with the Authority; they probably have this other ship scheduled to come in now."
"They shouldn't do things like that," Charleston protested peevishly with a sublime disregard for the necessarily intricate workings of the Authority. "No right at all. Might think we were ordinary spacebats or something."
Which is when the receiver, attuned to the Patrol frequency, caught Traffic Control's command to contact the unidentified destroyer. Forthwith a third ship made itself present in the extra-Venusian heavens; a red-lighted ship bearing the AAP of the Authority Patrol. It came blasting from Venus' east and over its transmitter came:
"Patrol V-11 calling destroyer. What is your mission?"
Silence. It is a ruling in the interplanetary code that all ships use the same wavelength when contacting ships of the Authority or ships under the guidance of the AA's facilities; since silence reigned, it was quite obvious that the unknown destroyer had not answered.
The patrol ship shot a warning flare across the destroyer's bow. It burned bluely in the darkness of the outer atmosphere, lighting up that entire quadrant of space, revealing the baleful circle-in-a-square insignia of Mars on the destroyer's hull!
The receiver burst again into life.
"Patrol V-11 calling base. Destroyer is of Martian origin. Advise."
But before an answer was forthcoming, a luridly flaring object leaped from the dark ship, speeding across the obscurity of interplanetary space like a leaping bolt of lightning.
"Patrol V-11 to base. Destroyer launched torpedo. Trying to escape. Blast jet bank seven. Blast nine. Nine! Nine!"