CHAPTER FIVE
Thirteen Minutes
They were soon back to the spaceship, and the search was at an end. For many days, two airships had searched both sides of the mountain and beyond. Vegetation had been cleared all around the ship for a distance of a hundred yards.
The spaceship was entirely surrounded with a network of metal hawsers which secured it to the ground against the mighty pull of the helium.
Entrance was gained to the ship by means of a helium lock.
With the return of the four machine men, no further time was lost. They were to make one supreme effort. Success or failure hung in the balance. Failure meant a flaming death when the nova struck Ajiat in its swelling glare.
"Every one of us must be securely fastened to a part of the ship," 744U-21 told them. "Our rise will be very sudden."
The fateful moment arrived. Several machine men made a last minute inspection of the hawsers holding the ship. By a specially arranged device, they were to be cast off simultaneously. When all was ready, the hawsers were loosed.
Like a shot out of a gun, the spaceship darted skyward, accelerating rapidly as the helium sought a natural level aided by the power releases of the spaceship. The climb was so rapid as to leave the machine men dizzy.