Within fifteen minutes after the destruction had ceased, millions of gleaming cubes winked upward from the bottom of the crevasse—motionless, quiescent!
Sarka sent forth another thought.
"I am your master, O cubes of the Moon!"
No sound, no movement, answered him.
"Luar and Dalis are no longer able to command you!"
Still no sound or movement of the cubes.
Then, taking a deep breath, as of a swimmer preparing to dive into icy water, Sarka gave a new command.
"Dissolve! Reform on the roof of the world in globes! Roll over the face of the Earth, destroy the fire-balls of Mars—and take prisoners, inside the globes, the attackers from Mars!"
Instantly the gleaming cubes vanished, and darkness as of a mighty pit possessed the crevasse of destruction. Then, at the lip of the great crevasse, the cubes swept into form—myriads of globes which gleamed with the cold blue brilliance of the Moon!