long tentacle was shot forth.

Magnetic grapple! It slithered past the front cowling of his space flyer, looped out and whipcracked back. If it had fastened to the outer berylumin hull, escape would have become impossible. Through transparent ports on all sides he saw the bulky noses of the Space Police ringing him in. Many eyes were watching him over the sights of grapple rockets.

Big Rufus Thallin grinned, turned and waved goodbye through the nearest port, then slammed a power throttle down.

"So long.... Howling Jupiter! What a jolt!"

Long trailers of flame vanished behind his jets. Now only a shimmering column of radiant force appeared. Rufus was jerked back against the seat. It was as though the space-flyer had just scooted into motion from a standstill.

One startled glance told him that the girl had passed into a coma. Jerking himself upright, he began to fight the throttle, which was jammed to the last notch and held there by the motion of swift acceleration.

In the nearest police craft a top-notch pilot was staring with popping eyes as the fugitive craft leaped ahead.

"Great blazing Antares!" exploded the "ace" spaceman, following the departing space-ship with his eyes. "Where'd he get that power? Lordy me, what speed!"

"Feed the juice into this star wagon!" groaned a Space Police commander, deeply chagrined. "He's got some new propelling force that has everything beat."

"They're getting away," gritted the pilot bitterly. "They're getting away, and we can't do a thing. All we can do is stand here and watch while that crazy man escapes to space with the poor girl."

In the craft ahead, Rufus' body was pulling away from the throttle. Blood was clogging up in his respiratory system. Though his breathing was smothered he held on grimly. The throttle snapped and he catapulted in a wild heap across the control room, smashing against a wall.

A sickening knowledge swept him. The lever had snapped at a crystallized joint, and was of no use now. He dropped it and went crawling across the floor on all fours.

Alarmed by the smoothness of the space-flyer's motion, he shot a fearful glance up at the accelerometer, to find the needle floating at zero. The power-thrust of radiant force had ceased as quickly as it had come into 

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