Suddenly Vars ducked, and a pistol flashed at his side. My hand went numb, and I heard the crash of glass. He had shot the tube as I turned it upon him. As he cursed and fired again, I threw myself at the feet of the fat man. Pistols cracked, and I felt the wind of bullets. Strangely, the big fellow collapsed as I dived, striking the floor at my side.
And then a fearful thing threw itself at me!
It was a many-tentacled creature of luminous purple fire, with an eye-like nucleus of bright scarlet in its shapeless, semi-transparent body! It was a thing or horror like that which had looked upon me as I lay in the cell—a nightmare being! I struck at it feebly, reeling in terror.
It had followed us into the room; it must have been the pilot of our ship.
Slender tentacles of purple fire coiled around me. They touched me. Their touch was cold—cold flame! But it burned! I felt a tingling sensation of pain—unutterably horrible. The contact with that monster shocked like electricity—but it was as cold as space!
I shrieked as I fell!
With my last energy, I sent out my fist at that flaming scarlet core. My arm went through it, cut it!
Then I have a confused impression of cries of agony and terror, of men cursing, screaming, falling. There were pistol shots, shouts, and dreadful sobbing gasps. I sat up, and saw that the room was full of writhing, dying men! Corpses weirdly splashed with red!
And the purple thing lay before me on the floor, inert and limp, with the fire in it fading. Still it was unspeakably horrible.
Then I heard Ellen cry out, calling my name! I ran on in the room. Ellen stood at the bars of a flimsy little door back of the desk at which the men had been seated.