Underwood withdrew from the fleet and returned to the control room of the Lavoisier. There he found a chaos of despair. Mason had properly diagnosed the weapons the fleet had turned upon the ship.
Though his physical self lay in the sick bay yet, the members of the crew were becoming accustomed to his unexpected voice in their minds. Quickly he told them what he had done. When he finished, he said, "What damage did you suffer, if any, Mason?"
"Only two very doubtful generators left. We couldn't stand another blast like that. Where did they get such machines?"
"I don't know. It's possibly something Toshmere was on the edge of developing. Perhaps some of our own men have worked it out with clues given by Demarzule. There's no telling. The important thing now is that we've got a bear by the tail. For a moment we have the upper hand, but I'm not sure just what will happen when they pull themselves together again. If they don't accept my ultimatum, we may be in a spot."
"And if they do—what are we going to do with a whole fleet of fanatics and dupes?"
"We'll need every ally that we can get now. Undoubtedly word was flashed back to Earth of this disaster before I talked to them. Demarzule knows we're coming and is aware of the power I have. He'll undoubtedly send powerful interceptors to wipe us out. If we can gain control of these ships, we can throw them against his interceptors, and maybe sneak through the Terrestrian defenses. It doesn't matter what happens to every one of us—just so I can get close enough to Demarzule to tangle with him."
At that moment, Captain Dawson approached Mason. "Message from the fleet. They offer to surrender unconditionally."
[CHAPTER EIGHTEEN]
Auxiliary engines were removed from the hulk of the destroyed flagship. Installed in the Lavoisier, they could easily bring her speed up to that of the fastest ship in the fleet.