No, it was better this way.
And in the spaceship, Emerson and Mussdorf and Nichols squatted over the leaden casket, commenting on it, copying the alien symbols and designs for study.
Emerson frowned thoughtfully, choosing his words.
"As near as I can judge, it's a form of atomic bombardment of matter. Suppose its rate of vibration is adjusted to matter a. Anything other than matter a, such as foreign substance b, is hit so swiftly and so often by those hurtling atoms that they simply wipe it out of existence.
"Back in the twentieth century, they were using just this principle to cure cancer. They bombarded the cancer with radioactive atoms—overcrowding the atoms with neutrons beyond their ability to hold them for very long—and the atoms ate away the cancer. I think they treated other diseases too, with some success. Goiter, for one. And, if I recall rightly, the atoms could build up blood cells or eliminate them.
"But this block and the cones seem to be the ultimate perfection of that idea. Maybe atoms possess some degree of intellect, for all we know. We'll never really be sure. They do have a power of attraction, and appear to be drawn to the danger spot as though magnetized to it."
They were silent, thoughtful.
"Yeah," said Mussdorf at last. "It begins to trickle through. Gunn wasn't in harmony with that black beast, so he went out of existence immediately. Gunn was human and the other wasn't."
Emerson nodded, and his eyes widened.