"Luck nothing!" Devries yelled, recognizing him. "It's Ross! How did you escape? We thought you died on the Wasp!"
"Not quite," Ross said. "Come on, this is no picnic! Let's get out of here before those devils stop wondering what an atom-blast is."
The men turned and sprinted for the open street ahead of them. But they hadn't taken five steps when Devries felt a crushing, numbing weight upon his brain. He staggered, fell to his knees; tried to rise but couldn't. Then he fell flat, as a force hit him like a giant invisible hand. Agonizingly he wondered why the others didn't help him; then he saw that they too were lying flat, dazed and panting heavily.
With a tremendous effort Devries twisted his head around and looked across the square. He saw the huge Brain under its glass dome. It was pulsing with a fiery, angry red radiance. And Devries knew it was the Brain's tremendous thought-force that was reaching out and crushing them there.
His right hand, still grasping the atom-blast, was doubled under him. Desperately he tried to move it—and did—about an inch. It seemed to weigh a ton. With a tremendous effort that took all his strength, Devries managed to slide his hand around so the atom-blast was trained on the Brain across the square. With his last ounce of strength he pressed the power button and held it there.
Devries knew his aim was good, but that dome over the Brain must have been of tougher substance that he thought. It did not blast, although he held the weapon there for about five seconds, on full power.