"There goes number two—a clean miss," swore Ben.
"Number one did a fine job."
"I know but—"
"This'll polish 'em off," came Jimmy's voice. "Here goes the drive scrambler."
"Hey! No—!" started Ben, but the whining of the generators and the dimming of the lights told him he was too late.
The Mardinex staggered and then leaped forward until six full gravities. Bits of broken hull and fractured insides trailed out behind the Mardinex as the derelict's added acceleration tore them loose. Within seconds, the stricken Martian warship was out of the sight of the Terrans.
"No reprimand, Jimmy," said Ben Williamson soberly. "I did hope to recover Guy's body."
II.
Thomakein, the Ertinian, stopped the recorder as the Terran ship reversed itself painfully and began to decelerate for the trip back to home. He nodded to himself and made a verbal addition to the recording, stating that the smaller ship had been satisfied as to the destruction of the larger, otherwise a continuance of the fight would have been inevitable. Then Thomakein placed the recording in a can and placed it on a shelf containing other recordings. He forgot about it then, for there was something more interesting in view.