Stellar Navy of Viagon.

"We are following the ship of Andsu Meero, the being who has kidnapped your Dr. Bette Bauer. We—"

Jim sat up in the bunk. "Just a minute," he said, holding up a hand. "I may be having a nightmare, but I still like to be sure of what's going on. The last I remember, I was trying to keep a bunch of gangsters from kidnapping one of my patients. Now I find myself here. Suppose you start from the beginning—"

"I see," the alien said. "I did not realize you were so unfamiliar with the situation. Those men who took the girl were working for Andsu Meero. He is attempting to gain control of the entire galaxy—a goal at which," the alien said, its voice dropping sadly, "at which he is unfortunately succeeding."

Lawrence blinked. "How?"

"His race is telepathic to a certain extent. They can read the minds of most other races, although they cannot read each other's minds."

"These are the Vegans?" Lawrence asked, trying to keep the story assembled into a coherent pattern.

"Yes. They are the Vegans—a warlike people who are now trying to overthrow the galactic government. Three years ago, Meero contacted the mind of a brilliant young Earth girl who had discovered a weapon of great significance—a death ray, to be precise."

"You mean Bette Bauer?"

"That was the girl's name. Meero discovered her shortly before we did. My race is telepathic too. We found that Dr. Bauer had discovered a system of mass annihilation that would enable any group to take over the galaxy—but Meero had her first. He focussed a mind-static generator on her and drove her insane. Naturally, he wanted the secret, so he came here to Earth to get it, as soon as he decided it was safe. By that time we, too, had found Earth, and followed."

"Only Meero had already grabbed the girl," Lawrence said.

"Exactly. We were too late. And now you understand the situation."

"Ah—yes," Lawrence said uneasily. "All but one thing. Why did you drag me into this?"

The alien paused for a moment and said, "We found you unconscious and decided to take you into protective custody."

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