"When the time comes," he continued, "and I believe it is now, I will remove the moderator bar from the drum at the top of the incline and release it. It will strike a trigger mechanism which will catapult it into the face of the vein of MCR ore. The critical mass will be exceeded and a planetary atom bomb will have been born."
His eyes were shining now with the madness of his dream. "The chain reaction will proceed through the earth's plastic mantle and down into the liquid core."
He paused to enjoy the pleasure of his speculations. "Then within ten hours I calculate the earth will exist no more. It will become a mushrooming cloud of cosmic dust. It deserves no better," he added bitterly; "I tried to give it peace."
Someone entered the room. It was the Indian reporting that the soldiers had penetrated into the crater.
"Watch this man," Chetzisky commanded. "Shoot him if necessary."
He left the room. I heard the cabin door shut and its sound echoed like a sentence of doom. In the long strained silence that followed I thought frantically.
Then the silence was broken. The cabin door opened again, dragging footsteps approached the room. Eyes bloodshot, one hand holding his head in evident pain, the Indian I had beat down with the butt of the .45 appeared in the doorway.
He glared at me in sudden recognition and with the roar of an enraged bull lunged at me. The other Indian tried to hold him back. That one moment was my opportunity; I picked up one of the home-made chairs and crashed it down on their heads. While they stumbled about groggily, I dashed out of the cabin after Chetzisky.
He was standing at the head of the ramp, working what appeared to be a lever. He heard me coming and fired his rifle at me twice. He missed my zigzagging figure. He acted quickly now, releasing the lever, and turning round, braced himself to meet my charge. We fell to the ground, Chetzisky clinging to me savagely, rolling me over and over until I realized what his game was, to move farther and farther from the ramp. I twisted my head and looked back.