for.'
'Well,' exclaimed Bantor Han, 'you did it, didn't you?' He seemed surprised that I had killed the beast.
We cooked and ate the antelope steaks, and left the rest where it lay, for we had no means of carrying any of it with us. We felt much refreshed, and I think that Bantor Han felt a little safer now that he had found that we were not going to be eaten up by the first carnivorous animal that we met.
It took us two days to cross through this mountain range. Fortunately for us, we had tackled it near its extreme northern end, where it was quite narrow and the mountains were little more than large hills. We had plenty to eat, and were only attacked twice more by dangerous animals, once by a huge creature that resembled a hyena, and again by the beast that I have named 'the lion of Poloda.' The two nights were the worst, because of the increased danger of prowling carnivora. The first we spent in a cave, and took turns standing watch, and the second night we slept in the open; but luck was with us and nothing attacked us.
As we came down out of a caсon on the east side of the mountains we saw that which brought us to a sudden stop-a Kapar plane not half a mile from us, on the edge of a little ravine that was a continuation of the caсon we were in. There were two men beside the plane, and they seemed to be digging in the ground.
'Two more Kapars for our bag, Bantor Han,' I said.
'If we get them and destroy their plane, we can certainly afford to die,' he said.
'You're always wanting to die,' I said reproachfully. 'I intend to live.' He would have been surprised had he known I was already dead, and buried somewhere 548,000 light-years away! 'And furthermore, Bantor Han,' I added, 'we are not going to destroy that plane; not if it will fly.'
We dropped into the ravine and made our way down toward the Kapars. We were entirely concealed from above, and if we made any noise it was drowned out by the noise of the little brook running over its rocky bed.
When I thought we had gone far enough, I told Bantor Han to wait and then I clambered up the side of the ravine to reconnoitre. Sure enough, I had hit the nail right on the head. There were the two Kapars digging away, scarcely a hundred feet from me. I crouched down and beckoned Bantor Han to come up.
There is no chivalry in complete war, I can assure you. Those two Kapars didn't have a chance. They were both dead before they knew there was an enemy within a thousand miles. Then we went to see what they had been at, and found a box beside the hole which they had been excavating. It was a metal box with a waterproof top, and when we opened it we found that it contained two complete blue uniforms of the Unis Fighting Corps, together with helmets, boots, ammunition belts, daggers, and guns. There were also directions in the Kapar language for entering the city of Orvis and starting numerous fires on a certain night about a month later. Even the location of the buildings that might most easily be fired, and from which the fires would spread most rapidly, was given.
We put the box aboard the ship and climbed in.
'We'll never make it,' said Bantor Han. 'We're bound to be shot down.'
'You're certainly determined to die, aren't you?' I said, as I started the engine and taxied for the takeoff.
Chapter Seven
I KNEW THAT THE SOUND-DETECTORS were already giving warning of the approach of a ship, and of a Kapar ship, too; for our ships are equipped with a secret device which permits the detectors to recognize them. The signal that it gives can be changed at will, and is changed every day, so that it really amounts to a countersign. Watchers must be on the alert for even a single ship, but I was positive that they would be looking up in the air; so I hugged the ground, flying at an elevation of little more than twenty feet.
Before we reached the mountains which surround Orvis, I saw a squadron of pursuit planes come over the summit.
'They are looking for us,' I said to Bantor Han, who was in the after cockpit, 'and I'm going right up where they can see us.'
'You'll come down in a hurry,' said Bantor Han.
'Now, listen,' I said; 'as soon as we get where you can distinguish the gunners and pilots and see that their uniforms are blue, you stand up and wave something, for if you can see the colour of their uniforms, they can see the colour of yours; and I don't believe they will shoot us down then.'
'That's where you're mistaken,' said Bantor Han; 'lots of Kapars have tried to enter Orvis in uniforms taken from our dead pilots.'
'Don't forget to stand up and wave,' I said.
We were getting close now, and it was a tense moment. I could plainly see the blue uniforms of the gunners and the pilots; and they could certainly see Bantor Han's and mine, and with Bantor Han waving to them they must realize that here was something unusual.
Presently the Squadron Commander ordered his ships to take position above us; and then he commenced to circle us, coming closer and closer. He came so close at last that our wings almost touched.
'Who are you?' he demanded.
'Bantor Han and Tangor,' I replied, 'in a captured Kapar ship.'
I heard one of his gunners say: 'Yes, that's Bantor Han. I know him well.'
'Land just south of the city,' said the Squadron Commander. 'We'll escort you down; otherwise you'll be shot down..'
I signalled that I understood, and he said, 'Follow me.'
So we dropped down toward Orvis near the apex of a V-formation, and I can tell you I was mighty glad to pile out of that ship with a whole skin.
I told the Squadron Commander about what we had seen the two Kapars doing, and turned the box over to him. Then I went and reported to my own Squadron Commander.
'I never expected to see you again,' he said. 'What luck did you have?'
'Twenty-two Kapars and four ships,' I replied.
He looked at me a bit sceptically. 'All by yourself?'
'There were three in my crew,' I said. 'I lost two of them, and my ship.'
'The balance is still very much in your favour,' he said. 'Who else survived?'
'Bantor Han,' I replied.
'A good man,' he said. 'Where is he?'
'Waiting outside, sir.'
He summoned Bantor Han. 'I understand you had very good luck,' he said.
'Yes sir,' said Bantor Han; 'four ships and twenty-two men, though we lost two men and our ship.'
'I shall recommend decorations for both of you,' he said, and dismissed us. 'You may take a day off,' he said, 'you have earned it; and you, too, Bantor Han.'
I lost no time in setting off to the Harkases. Harkas Yamoda was in the garden, sitting staring at the ground and looking very sad; but when I spoke her name she leaped to her feet and came running toward me, laughing almost hysterically. She seized me by both arms.
'Oh, Tangor,' she cried, 'you did not come back, and we were sure that you had been shot down. The last that anyone saw of you, you were fighting three Kapar combat planes alone.'
'Harkas Don,' I asked, '-he came back?'
'Yes; now we shall all be so thankful and so happy-until next time.'
I had dinner with Yamoda and her father and mother, and after dinner Harkas Don came. He was as surprised and delighted as the others to see me.
'I didn't think you had a chance,' he said. 'When a man is gone three days, he is reported dead. You were very fortunate.'
'How did the battle go, Harkas Don?' I asked.
'We thrashed them as usual,' he said. 'We have better ships, better pilots, better gunners, better guns, and I think that now we have more ships. I don't know why they keep on coming over. They sent over two waves of five thousand ships each this time, and we shot down at least five thousand of them. We lost a thousand ships and two
