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unexpected fleet of defenders. “For so long, we’ve been
    stuck on the ground with our space program decimated. That was why I built my own ship
    and used it to spy on the tendrilless preparations. I thought I was the only one who could
    figure it out.”
    The slan hunter shook his head, seeking a target for his anxiety. “Listen to the boy genius.”
    Jommy’s eyes flashed. “This boy genius has flown away from Earth, infiltrated the enemy
    headquarters on Mars, and dealt with their representatives. I knew more about this threat than
    you ever imagined, Mr. Petty. That’s why I came back here with a warning.”
    “And you arrested him,” Kathleen said accusingly.
    Jommy nodded. “You spent far too much time chasing pebbles while I was trying to stop a
    whole avalanche.”
    Petty seemed embarrassed. “I’d watch what you’re saying, slan boy. You’re still my
    prisoner.”
    “Only until the palace blows up around us,” Kathleen muttered.
    Jommy emphasized his point. “The tendrilless have taken over interplanetary space, and I
    know they’ve placed traps there. I ran into a deadly mine field myself during my explorations.”
    He spun to the President. “Mr. President, you should warn your forces about the mines. The
    tendrilless won’t allow you to simply—”
    With a cry of shock, Kathleen pointed to the screen. The blips showing Earth’s defensive
    spaceships began to flicker and flare. Over a quarter of them winked out in only a few seconds.
    “Looks like they found the mine field,” Petty said.
    Jommy groaned. “Even I didn’t think the tendrilless had distributed so many. They knew
    we had no real space program. What could they have been so afraid of?”
    “Slans,” Gray said. “They’re worried about how much the hidden slans will fight back.
    They’re not concerned about humans.”
    Jommy stared at the afterimages, knowing that each set of glowing phosphors represented
    a fully armed ship, now destroyed. Over a thousand human vessels had just been wiped out in
    a single blow!
    But then the Earth forces fought back, blasting away with weapons built into their fleet.
    Even the human pilots did not know that some of their defenses were secret slan innovations;
    at the moment, they probably didn’t care. Once the pilots learned how to detect and avoid the
    space mines, they launched into an incredible dogfight, plowing into the vanguard forces. It
    looked like a snowstorm of symbols swirling in incomprehensible patterns. Ships clashed with
    ships, and many of the tendrilless vessels were damaged or wrecked.
    But not enough of them.
    Knocking Clarke aside, Petty seated himself in the technician’s swivel chair, as if he didn’t
    believe his knees would continue to support his weight. To their continued horror, the blips
    showing the tendrilless fleet looped around and went after the remaining human defenses.
    Many of the Earth ships’ weapons failed, inexplicably. Their pilots shouted that navigation
    systems had just shorted out. They flew blind, but still pursued the numerous enemy vessels.
    Engines gave out, armaments failed to fire, guidance systems died, leaving the Earth space navy
    helpless.
    “Do the tendrilless have some kind of jamming system?” Kathleen asked. “Can we get
    them on line again?”
    As he listened to the cries of surprise and frustration—then the static of
    destruction—Jommy could only conclude that the answer had to do with sabotage. “If you
    kept this fleet secret from Petty, who was in charge of it?”
    “Jem Lorry. My chief advisor.” Gray looked deeply troubled. “Who has now vanished.
    Could he have been a tendrilless spy? Could his shields have been so powerful that even I
    didn’t suspect him?” He could not tear his eyes from the screens.
    The fleet from Mars still outnumbered Gray’s surprise space force more than three-to-one,
    and the battle swiftly turned into a rout. The Earth ships fought to the last, knowing that they
    could not