But Dave reached out a hand and snatched it from her.
Jane cried in pain and fear, and watched the crystal make three long swoops towards the concrete wall—Dave had grabbed it and started to run outside. The crystal was wrenched from his fingers as he went through the wall. It fell to the floor, and all three physicists swooped down upon it.
Jane came up with it and popped it into the pneumatic tube.
It rattled thrice and was gone, racing down the tube end over end, visible to Dave as it raced out of reach.
"It wants physicists," breathed DeLieb.
"But it's gone now."
"And so is Dave," cried Jane.
"Dammit," snapped Dave. Then he gave up, because he knew the utter futility of trying to make them hear him.
But there was a way!
The crystal extended through both worlds. All Dave had to do was to get the crystal and use it as a stylus against some surface in the other world.