It made him realize once more his complete helplessness.
Marene and the young man were standing there looking dejectedly at the gun. "It won't work," Bob groaned. "I've got to take it apart. I've got to try again."
Zurk tried with all his might to tell the young man that the gun was a success. He tried until blackness sought to engulf him.
Then his delicate ears picked up a sound vibration that sent a chill through his brain. He could hear the hurried scrape of many clawed feet in the street below.
Zuldi and his men! They had detected the vibration of the gun! They were hurrying to investigate!
And there was something else. Far above the distant horizon was a black speck that grew suddenly larger as it leaped forward through the pale sky.
The black ship! It was coming a day ahead of schedule!
Zurk struggled desperately to warn the two who stood there in the attic laboratory. He tried to warn them of the black ship and of Zuldi and his guards who were even now within the house.
But his struggles were in vain. The hot pain stabbed deep into the back of his neck, robbing him of his strength. The walls of the room reeled and faded before his waning eyes.