Margot smiled again. “The m.g. gun makes me think so.”
“The heck of it is, you’re not really bad, Margot. This thing’s got you, is all. You’re not essentially evil.”
“Thank you for the thrilling compliment. I’m delighted,” Margot said sarcastically.
“Vardin stays with me.”
Margot reminded him of the lethal m.g. gun by showing it to him, muzzle-first.
He laughed in her face. “Go ahead and shoot.”
She stared at him.
“There isn’t a lethal weapon’d do you any good here in a timeless continuum. Take an m.g. gun. It induces an [p 119] artificial breakdown of radioactive fuel in its chamber, firing an instantly lethal dose of radiation. But in order for radioactive breakdown to occur, time must pass. Even if it’s only milliseconds, as in the case of an m.g. gun. There aren’t any milliseconds on this world, Margot. There isn’t any time. So go ahead and pull the trigger.”
Margot frowned and pointed the gun to one side and fired.
Nothing happened. Margot almost looked as if her hard shell had been sundered by the impotence of the m.g. gun. She pouted. Her eyes gleamed moistly.