There was a stunned silence for a moment, then the pain-wracked voice of Captain Yknor said, "Don't shoot at the Earthman. Get away from those projectors!"
The projector crew held fire. Marten waited tensely as Ghuvek moaned and stirred. Ten feet away, standing amidst the torture implements, the captain clutched his broken arm and watched the Earthman with terror in his eyes and pain evident on his face.
Ghuvek blinked his eyes opened. He looked dazed for a moment, then focussed his eyes on Marten. His right arm, the Earthman noticed, was twisted horribly.
"Yknor?"
"He's over there," Marten said. "His arm didn't bend either. And if you move, I'll find out how resistant your innards are to a quick burn."
Ghuvek shook his head bewilderedly. "You've got us, Earthman. But—how did it happen? How could one man take over a great battleship?"
"It was easy," Marten said.
Ghuvek moaned and looked at his mangled arm regretfully. "I don't understand," the defeated alien commander said.
"Why did you let us torture you if you could get away so easily?"
Marten smiled. "I wanted to teach you a lesson," he said. "Earth's been patient with your marauding for a long time, and we put up with your sneak attack on Regulus. But the time has come to tell you to stop—or we'll wipe your whole race out of the Galaxy. We're tired of your tactics, Ghuvek. And if one man can do this to you, what can a whole army of us do?"