Turnover came, inevitably. Maynard's fleet flashed up to the "fix" in
space and began the end-swapping job. Solarians watched, gloating.
Maynard _was_ going to turnover! The gap closed. Terra and Ertene
alerted for action, and the entire personnel of the combined fleets
went on double-watch. No one knew how much stuff Maynard's men had
developed.
Vortex projectors sowed toroids that floated with Guy's ships. In and
about the pirate fleet, the huge vortexes of energy roamed, covering
the fleet by sheer number.
Torpedoes directed against the toroids prematured. MacMillan fire
entered them, and added to their total energy. Other toroids flung into
them merely added to their number.
And the very number of them made operations in the combined fleets
difficult. The space pattern was never intended to fight into a massed
effect. Ertene and Terra spread slightly, opening up a hole. Through
this hole flowed the toroid-covered Mephistan fleet, and Maynard's
men were behind. Turnover was completed, and with the indifference
to the Solarian fleet that was maddening, Maynard gave the order to
decelerate for landing on Mephisto.
Solarians fell behind--below, now, for they were dropping onto
Mephisto, the deceleration creating a false gravity.
They crammed on the deceleration too; not to do so would have put them
far beyond Mephisto. They crammed on all they had, and it was just
enough to stay below Maynard's fleet--
Just outside of range.
The men in the combined fleets of Ertene and Terra writhed in hatred.
Mars, unable to keep up with the man-killing gravities, laughed
nastily--she thought that the fun would have been over before her
slower ships could join.
But though amused, Mars was none the less angry. Her men in her ships
were killing themselves to keep from arriving too late. They knew now
that the big fight would be around Mephisto.
* * * * *
It takes but a minute to tell, but it was days and days in the action.
Men slept and changed watches and went through the tiresome routines of
space travel across the System. And ever before them was the specter of
Maynard's fleet, just out of range. It maddened them, and it made them
sacrifice a few fighter ships that tried to run ahead, into the other
fleet. They were lost, every time, without doing any damage.
And the temper of the men increased by the minute--and days and days
with hours full of minutes went by with not one bit of action to salve
their hatred.
Mephisto loomed in the sky below, eventually, and the fleets swept down
to Mephisto, and the Solarian fleet spread wide and passed the planet.
They did not like the idea of being between a fighting fleet and its
home base. Maynard landed easily, and was able to consolidate his force
on the ground before the combined Ertinian and Terran fleets circled
and returned.
"Just hold 'em off," said Guy.
And again there passed the maddening job of not being able to
do anything to the enemy. They patrolled the planet, but it was
unsatisfactory patrol. Any ship that came too low was fired upon and
collected by Guy's planet-mounted projectors. Solarians thought that
they knew how to arm a planet, but Mephisto was well-nigh impregnable.
Toroids stopped, torpedoes prematured, and MacMillans flashed in the
sky, dissipating the energy with no harm save the blown fuses in the
ships.
"How long?" asked Neville.
"Wait for Mars," smiled Monogon. "I insist that Mars be not left out.
What's good enough for them is good enough for my world, too."
"He's right," said Guy. "We'll wait."
And finally Mars arrived on the scene, and the fleets went high to
discuss the problem of extinguishing this menace. Guy followed their
conference--and they suspected that he did. Their plan was bold. A
power play, and it came in a down-thrust of the ships of three worlds.
They drove toroids before them, filled the air with torpedoes, and
interlaced the sky with MacMillans.
"Now?" asked Neville.
"Now," smiled Guy. His smile was bitter and hard. He stepped to the
vast instrument and put the helmet over his head. His left hand turned
the switch and the right hand adjusted the intensity. "Cease fire!"
The fighting stopped.
"Land!"
The inrushing of fighting ships continued, and they landed quietly, one
after the other. Immediately, doors opened in three of them and three
men emerged. Stiffly they walked to Maynard's headquarters where they
were greeted and taken to Guy's room.
* * * * *
"You can not touch me," said Guy in a hard, cool voice. "I am
impregnable. You will never be able to touch me!"
"You stinker," snarled Space Marshal Mantley.
Guy faced Thomakein next. "Have you anything to say?" he snapped.
"We are defeated," said Thomakein. "What would you have me say?"