A huge dome stood in the center of the turret, with antennae radiating out from it in every direction. Curtis could hear the low, humming drone, as of a powerful dynamo at work, and he could see a heavy cable, which evidently fed this dome of silence with its power.
He found a switch and shut off the current; then he attacked the cable with the pliers he had brought with him. One by one, the thick strands of wire began to part—
Behind him, a harsh, inhuman cry caused Curtis to look around swiftly. Instinctively, he dropped the pliers, reached for his automatic, then hesitated, his finger on the safety catch.
Zukor Androka stood in the turret entrance, his gray hair floating in wisps around his head, his eyes ablaze with a maniac's fury, his hands extended toward Curtis like gouging claws.
"You ... you ... you have ruined my invention!" Androka murmured, in a heartbroken voice. "You have wrecked the zone of silence!"
Curtis took a step forward, seized the Czech inventor by the shoulder and shook him.
"You dirty little traitor!" he barked. "You've lied and cheated—sold out to the Nazis you profess to hate!"
Androka looked at him, terror-stricken, evidently recognizing him for the first time. "You—you're Commander Curtis!"
"Yes!" Curtis gave the inventor another shake and released him. "And you helped steal my ship—tried to ruin me as an officer of the United States navy!"