His hand came down on the lever.
For a moment Marnay thought the pirate ship had rammed them, or that they had exploded, or both. He and Kennett were suddenly hurtling outward ... at terrific speed ... their tiny compartment away from the rest of the ship!
He looked in the panel and his heart leaped. They had indeed exploded—very systematically! He saw fully a score of miniature Veras speeding away from each other in a perfect, ever widening circle! Each was a tiny spacer with its own motivating blast. He recalled the puzzling construction of the Vera as he'd first seen it, and now suddenly he understood; it had been segmented!
Where the huge original Vera had been was now only a huge steel framework, from which the score of miniature Veras were speeding away in their widening circle. The pirate ship was blasting violently with its forward rockets, but it was too late. It crashed into the framework, crumpling and tangling it and carrying it forward on the momentum.
"Now watch!" Kennett was yelling unnecessarily in Marnay's ear. "Space-bombs such as you never saw before—each of those Veras, ten tons of Tynyte!"
"But—they're going away...."