But the crew was in no shape to appreciate the display. From metal parts in the ship there appeared coronas that reached for the unprotected men, and seared their flesh. And since their gravity-apparent was gone, they floated freely through the air, and came in contact with highly charged walls, ceiling, and floor; to say nothing of the standard metal furniture.
It was a sorry bunch of pirates that found themselves in a ship-without-motive-power that was beginning to leave their circular course on a tangent that would let them drop into the Sun.
"That's my answer, Murdoch!" snapped Channing. "Watch your second ship!"
"You young devil," shouted Murdoch, "what did you do?"
"You never thought that it would be an electronics engineer that made the first energy gun, did you, Murdoch? I'm now going to take a shot at No. 3!"
No. 3's turrets swiveled around and from the guns flashes of fire came streaming. Channing punched his lever savegely, and once again the Station was tortured by the effects of its own offensive.
Ship No. 3 suffered the same fate as No. 2.
Then, seconds later, armor-piercing shells began to hit Venus Equilateral. They hit, and because of the terrific charge, they began to arc at the noses. The terrible current passed through the fuses, and the shells exploded on contact instead of boring inside before detonation. Metal was bent and burned, but only a few tiny holes resulted. As the charge on the Station approached equilibrium once more, men ran with torches to seal these holes.
"Murdoch," said Channing, "I want you!"
"Come and get me."