Crane brushed the yellow fluff wildly from before the eyes in his helmet, saw that the incredibly expanding bacteriophage had puffed out through the whole interior of the Martian cruiser. He could hear dim screams as every man in the ship, every atom of organic life, was fastened on and devoured by the culture.
Then, in a short while there was silence inside the cruiser. The Martians were gone, devoured. The ship held only the masses of ravening yellow life that had destroyed them!
Crane staggered close to Lalla Dee.
"Try to unbind my wrists," he said in a muffled voice, through the helmet. "But for God's sake don't open your suit in the slightest or you're doomed!"
"I'll — I'll try," said the Venusian girl shakenly.
Her trembling bound hands finally managed to undo the bonds around Crane's wrists. He unbound her, then, and released the chain that had tied them to Kark Al and the robot.
The huge robot, Thoh, still stood immobile beside them. The mechanical man's metal body had not been affected by the devouring bacteriophage, but he had received no order from his master to act, and had not moved.
Crane pushed Lalla Dee into the space-lock and told her:
"Take a hand-rocket and get as far out in space from the ship as you can. I'll be with you in a moment."
She obeyed, opening the outer door of the lock, stepping out into the void and using the hand-rocket she had picked up to propel her away from the Martian cruiser.