There remained only the Asteroids.
At this thought Ralph sprang to his feet with an exclamation.
"I've been a fool not to think of them before," he cried. "Of course he would get her to one of them, and once there she will be lost forever. Good God, I must find his machine and head him off before it's too late."
He turned savagely on Fernand still crouched against the wall. "I'm tempted to leave you to the fate the Martian intended for you. God knows it wouldn't be half what you deserve."
"Don't do that, in Heaven's name," mumbled the other. "Don't leave me here like this."
The scientist looked at him contemptuously for a moment.
"Bah!" he said scornfully, "can't you even take your medicine like a man? But I'll turn your machine around and direct it Earthward. You will intercept the Earth in about thirty hours. You can't steer, but you can accelerate or retard the speed of your flyer, and need not collide with the Earth if you are careful.
"And remember this," he added grimly, "if you and I ever meet again I will pound your miserable cowardly body into jelly!"
He turned his back on the abject man, and returned to his own flyer. Then he turned Fernand's machine around, disconnected the two from each other, and in a few seconds Fernand's flyer had disappeared.