In the immensity of that edifice I sensed the overwhelming might of the robots—this dread, mind-crushing power, born of man but now risen ruthlessly to destroy him.
"Power, Rogo," Jeron begged again. "Can't you give me power?"
The gaunt gigantic Saturnian still struggled vainly with the dead controls. Faintly, from the phone, I heard the nasal voice of Rogo Nug:
"By the steel skull of Malgarth, Jeron, I thought I'd had a stroke! One instant—"
Converters and generators throbbed suddenly to vibrant life. Jeron flung his weight on the power bar. The engines raced and coils hammered against a terrific overload. A tremendous river of energy, I knew, was running into the space-contractor coils.
But the Barihorn moved not one inch!
The tall pilot turned from the controls, bewildered.
"It's still holding us, Kel," he gasped. "Whatever dragged us down!"
The Earthman pushed long fingers decisively back through the thick tangle of his yellow hair.
"Then," he said, "we'll leave the ship, and go out on foot to seek the Stone."