As I heard the noise, I turned and saw Gustav Keeshwar leveling a gun toward the helpless young woman in the glass tube.
I sprang toward him just as the gun went off.
Apparently he had not expected to find me in the room, for as I lunged he uttered a cry and threw the gun at my face. Then he turned and ran.
I managed to duck in time to receive only a glancing blow on the head. I started to pursue, when my eyes fell on the translator.
Something terrible was wrong.
Half of the tube had disappeared and, with it, half of Trella's body. The other half, containing half of the most beautiful woman on the earth, remained in the laboratory.
My spring toward Keeshwar had spoiled his aim enough to keep the bullet from striking Trella, but the bullet had struck the small silver wire that ran from the atomic motor on one side to the atomic motor on the other. The translation had been only half completed.