"An amazing amount of power in those atomic bombs," Dr. Trainor commented, his mild eyes bright with scientific enthusiasm. "I doubt that space itself is strong enough to hold up under their explosion. If they hit us, I imagine it will break down the continuum, blow us out of the universe altogether, out of space and time!"
Bill was looking at the whirling green spiral that hung where the Martian flier had been. He saw it move suddenly, dart across the star-dusted darkness of space. It plunged straight for the blue ball of Mars, struck it. A viridescent fog ran quickly over the enormous azure globe.
Mars melted away.
The planet dissolved in a huge, madly spinning cloud of brilliant green mist that shone with an odd light—with a light of life! A world faded into a nebulous spiral of green. Mars became a spinning cloud of dust as if of malachite.
A tiny lever flicked over, under the Prince's fingers. And the green light went out.
Where Mars had been was nothing! The stars shone through, hot and clear. A machine no larger than a camera had destroyed a world. Bill was dazed, staggered.
Solemnly, almost sadly, the Prince moved a slender, tanned hand across his brow. "A terrible thing," he said slowly. "It is a terrible thing to destroy a world. A world that had been eons in the making, and that might have changed the history of the cosmos.... But they voted for war. We had no choice."
He shook his head suddenly, and smiled. "It's all over. The great mission of my life—completed. Doctor, I want you to pack the vitomaton very carefully, and lock it up in our best safe, and try to forget the combination. A great invention. But I hope we never need to use it again."
Then the Prince of Space did a thing that was amazing to most of his associates as the destruction of Mars had been. He walked quickly to Paula Trainor, and put his arms around her. He slowly tilted up her elfin face, where the golden eyes were laughing now, with a great, tender light of gladness shining in them. He bent, and kissed her warm red lips, with a hungry eagerness that was almost boyish.
A happy smile was dancing in his eyes when he looked up at the astounded Captain Brand and the others.