Sopho looked quickly at Learned—who glanced away.
The scientist seemed, for the first time, alarmed. Not alarmed at the statement made by the man but at its effect upon two persons whom he had considered impervious to wild suggestion. Obviously, it was up to him to break the lunatic's spell. Some fabulous stowaway—and the journalist and the soldier—drawn overfine by the magnitude of this mission—had become prey to imagination.
One humors the mad—at any rate, to begin with. "I see," said Sopho.
He now faced the stranger—who stood in their midst. "Tell me. Just why did you decide to accompany this particular raid?"
Chris, still smiling, repeated his words about his promise—and after that, the promise.
"End of the world, eh?" Sopho chuckled. "You sure?"
"Your world—perhaps."
"You want us to give it up? The mission?" Sopho pointed at the bomb bay. "That?"
Chris looked steadily at him. "If I remember rightly, doctor, you began the preparation of—that—" he, also, pointed—"not to use against men, but to have on hand if your other enemy employed such instruments. He did not. He lies defeated."