The space-flier! There high above us and above the pursuing cylinders it hung, a gleaming faceted ball, at sight of which I could only gaze stupefied. I saw in that moment that down from its lowest ray-opening there was radiating toward the cylinders that had been hurtling in a mass toward us, a pale, almost invisible great force-ray and that it was that ray's giant pressure that had shattered the mass of our pursuers, and in an instant had driven their massed cylinders to all sides! Then, as they broke thus in wild confusion before that swift great force-ray from above, the space-flier was flashing down toward our roofless, drifting cylinder, was hovering just beside us, touching that cylinder, with the round outer door in its facet within our reach! In an instant Marlin and I had clambered to the drifting cylinder's edge, had whirled open that outer door of the space-flier. When we threw ourselves into the little vestibule-chamber or air-lock, shut the outer door, and turned toward the inner one, that inner one was opened and Whitely—Whitely!—was pulling us inside!
In an instant Marlin and I had clambered to the drifting cylinder's edge and to the open outside door.
"Whitely—Randall—" we were babbling in our excitement, "we thought you dead—saw fragments of the space-flier and thought it destroyed——!"
"No time now to tell you, Marlin—Hunt—" Whitely was hurriedly saying. "Those cylinders are forming again. They're coming up toward us! Head out from Triton, Randall—full speed!"
But even as he had spoken, Randall, in the control-chair, had flashed his hands over the six control-switches, and as Marlin and I clambered with Whitely into the other three chairs, we felt ourselves pressed down with terrific force against them as the space-flier shot out from Triton with colossal speed! But at the same moment the cylinders that had formed again into their close-grouped mass, had leaped forward with us and the next moment saw space-flier and cylinders alike whirling out from the atmosphere of Triton into the empty void of space! I glanced back, saw that the cylinders were close behind our hurtling space-flier, flashing after it somewhat beneath it, so as to clear its great force-ray shooting back toward Triton and flinging it outward. And as I glanced back, I saw Triton's dull-gleaming sphere, with the pale giant force-ray that stabbed from its side toward the sun, growing each instant smaller! But dead ahead of us, though somewhat beneath our level, there loomed the colossal green sphere of Neptune, growing in size as we rushed on at immense speed from its moon!
On we went, and as Randall's hands flashed over the control-switches, Marlin and Whitely and I staring tensely forth with him, we were aware that from the mass of onracing cylinders behind slender force-rays were again questing toward us, though the range was too great for them to loose them accurately at this terrific speed. At any moment, though, one of those concentrated, pencil-like rays might cleave through our space-flier in a lucky hit, and unless we escaped from these relentless pursuers, the space-flier and ourselves were certain of destruction. This I saw, and saw too that Neptune's colossal cloudy sphere lay close before us, so awful was the speed of our flight and pursuit, and as it loomed gigantic before us, filling the heavens, it was apparent that we would pass close above its surface. Suddenly I turned to Randall, shouted in his ear above the thundering throbbing drone of our generators.
"Neptune!" I cried. "There's a chance to smash these pursuing cylinders there!"