“We do not know, Steinholt,” admitted Fragoni, “but our knowledge undoubtedly will be increased considerably within the next few hours. And now,” he said, “we will consider the problem at hand.”
“––the object which has created such unrest is slowly rising. It is now some twenty-five thousand feet above Manhattan. It is––”
The voice from the radiovisor attracted the attention of the five men, and, with one accord, they rushed to the terrace and looked toward Manhattan. They saw the great leviathan high in the air for a moment, and then, suddenly, it seemed to vanish from sight.
“It’s gone!” exclaimed Stanton, with a sigh of relief. “It must have been some odd atmospheric freak, that’s all.”
They searched the skies through the luciscope that was on the terrace, but failed to detect any trace of the monster.
“That seems to simplify matters,” remarked Fragoni as they again walked back into the great conference room. But here, once more, they heard the voice from the Worldwide Tower.
“––we are advised by Chicago that the thing, dull-red with heat, is hovering only a couple of thousand feet over the city. Thousands in the streets are being killed by the heat it is radiating––panic reigns, despite a rigorous enforcement of martial law. The strange object just rose suddenly to a high altitude and disappeared––”
“It’s another one of those damned things,” asserted Stanton. “That couldn’t go a thousand miles a minute!”