The _Ertak_ was safe, and--

"There seems to be another directly above us, sir," commented Correy
quietly, speaking for the first time since we had entered the area of
danger. "I believe your disc is not picking it up."

"Thank you, Mr. Correy," I said. While operating on an entirely
different principle, his two charts had certain very definite
advantages: they showed the entire space around us, instead of but a
portion.

I picked up the meteorite he had mentioned without difficulty. It was
a large body, about three times the mass of the _Ertak_, and some
distance above us--a laggard in the group we had just eluded.

"Will it coincide with our path at any point, Mr. Correy?" I asked
doubtfully. The television disc could not, of course, give me this
information.

"I believe so; yes," replied Correy, frowning over his charts. "Are
the rays on it, sir?"

"Yes. All of them, I judge, but they are making slow work of it." I
fell silent, bending lower over the great hooded disc.

There were a dozen, a score of rays playing upon the surface of the
meteorite. A halo of dust hung around the rapidly diminishing body,
but still the mass melted all too slowly.

* * * * *

Pressing the attention signal for Kincaide, I spoke sharply into the
microphone:

"Mr. Kincaide, is every ray on that large meteorite above us?"

"Yes, sir," he replied instantly.

"Full power?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well; carry on, Mr. Kincaide." I turned to Correy; he had just
glanced from his charts to the clock, with its jerking second hand,
and back to his charts.

"They'll have to do it in the next ten seconds, sir," he said.
"Otherwise--" Correy shrugged, and his eyes fixed with a peculiar,
fascinated stare on the charts. He was looking death squarely in the
eyes.

Ten seconds! It was not enough. I had watched the rays working, and I
knew their power to disintegrate this death-dealing stone that was
hurtling along above us while we rose, helplessly, into its path.

I did not ask Correy if it was possible to alter the course enough,
and quickly enough, to avoid that fateful path. Had it been possible
without tearing the _Ertak_ to pieces with the strain of it, Correy
would have done it seconds ago.

I glanced up swiftly at the relentless, jerking second hand. Seven
seconds gone! Three seconds more.

The rays were doing all that could be expected of them. There was only
a tiny fragment of the meteorite l