shoulders were broad, powerful. Above them, the face was strong, bronzed. There was a scar across one cheek that was known throughout the system. Black eyes blazed with reckless courage, out of deep sockets. Full, thick lips curved in a crafty smile.

Jon McPartland clenched his huge fists helplessly. He knew the trail of murder and robbery behind that animal courage, that scheming smile. The man was Mark Baron, the most notorious and deadly outlaw still at large!

"Someday," Jon said savagely, "I'll catch you, Baron!"

The outlaw was fading from the view, as the screen dimmed. Outside, the daylight, too, faded. Blackness crowded in again.

"Very clever," came Almira's voice. "Many people are foolish enough to think of Mark Baron as a modern Robin Hood."

"He's the worst kind of criminal," Marshal Denton said bitterly. "But the ridiculous legends about him will help their propaganda. There will be panic and rioting now!"

"Jon, we can't let this go on! We've got to—"

An officer entered to report. Outside, the firing had dropped off. Ray guns were again useless. There hadn't been time to recapture the docks.

"The Avenger is ready, Sir," Jon said, when the officer had left. "We'll take off at once."

"Good luck, Captain," the Marshal said dully. "Almira, will you go—" He left the question unfinished. Jon knew he was thinking of his daughter, in a world ruled by men like Mark Baron. "Jon!" The older man said fiercely, "we can't give up!"

"I'll stay with you, Father," the girl said quietly, refusing Denton's unspoken plea. "We'll have to be realistic—have to think of the millions whose lives—" Her soft voice caught. "But, Jon—Jon, good luck!"

Out in space, the starlight was bright and clean. The four men in the Avenger's control room glued their eyes on the side view screens. They felt their spirits lift out of the black nightmare that still covered the forward screen. They were silent, loving the stars and planets shining back at them, untouched by the evil that blotted out Terra.

"It's wonderful, man," said McTavish at Jon's shoulder.

McPartland nodded. He was surprised somehow to find the control room unchanged. Reynolds still sat before his 

 Prev. P 18/23 next