Rog Tanlu was on his knees. He had jerked that fountain-pen affair into action. Again and again I saw its belching bar of whiteness blast down toward the entrance. This man from the Past, despite his thin, pale face and affable manner, was also a fighter!
And strangely, watching him and that wildly cavorting shadow that was Eyoaoc Eiioiei, I forgot all about the automatic in my pocket. For somehow this fantastic meeting of forces seemed remotely withdrawn from the affairs of Doc Champ and myself—although heaven knows we were mixed up in it at that moment close enough!
I do not know for how long that flaming barrage lasted—perhaps only a moment or so, although it seemed longer. But suddenly it was over. Darkness and silence blotted down on us there in the cavern.
"Doc!" I gasped.
He didn't answer. But I heard someone moaning softly.
I groped around in the darkness. Then my hand touched him. He didn't move, and somehow it needed only that touch to tell me the truth.
"Rog Tanlu," I called hoarsely. "Rog Tanlu—!"
"Here," came a voice, followed by a moan.
The temporary blindness caused by those recent blasts of light was leaving my eyes. I began to see dimly.
I crawled over to where Rog Tanlu was lying.