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It was clear they were uncertain of each other and of success. Sin, the mighty Disintegrator, was at work upon their spirits. A more half- hearted crew of blackguards never attempted murder. They needed Black Diamond. He, and he alone, might have held them and swung them, as a fine horseman holds and swings a refuser at a fence.
It was true that at present we appeared to have the advantage, both in our electrical ships and in our means of offence. The disintegrator was at least as powerful an engine of destruction as any that the Martians had yet shown that they possessed. It did not seem that in that respect they could possibly excel us.
"This will do," said Colonel Smith, to the electrical steersman. "Stay right here." He and I then lowered ourselves into the branches of the trees, each carrying a small disintegrator, and cautiously clambered down to the ground. Landing On Mars. We believed we were the first of the descendants of Adam to set foot on the planet of Mars. An Experience On Mars.
In another instant it would have launched its destroying bolt. Before that could occur, however, it had been dissipated into space by a vibratory stream from a disintegrator. But we were not to get the victory quite so easily.
As Warn, of the Sandsnipers put it: "You should be in a better position than anyone, Rogers, with your memories of the Twentieth Century, to appreciate that between the superdeadliness of the rocket gun and of the disintegrator ray there will never be any opportunity for hand-to-hand work. Long before the opposing forces could come to grips, one or the other will be wiped out."
The next night several of these "air balls" were seen, following explosions in various towers and sections of the city roof and walls. In each case repair gangs were "rushed" by them, and suffered many casualties. On the third night a few of the air balls were destroyed by the repair men and guards, who now were equipped with disintegrator pistols.
The tunnels themselves appeared to have been driven with disintegrator rays, which could bore rapidly through the solid rock, forming glassy iridescent walls as they bored, and involving no problem of debris removal. I asked San-Lan about it the next time I saw him, for the officer of my guard would give me no information. The supreme ruler of the Hans smiled mockingly.
One swooper they brought to earth with a disintegrator ray beam, by creating a vacuum beneath it, but they did it no serious damage, for its fall was a light one. Subsequently it did tremendous damage, cleaning off an entire ridge. Another swooper ran into a catastrophe that had one chance in a million of occurring. It hit a heavy Han rocket nose to nose.
Once free of them, I figured it would be the business of nobody in particular, in that badly disorganized city, to recapture me. The knives of the ordinary citizens I did not fear, and very few of the military guard were armed with disintegrator pistols. I was sitting in my apartment busying my mind with various plans, when there occurred a commotion in the city corridor outside my door.
The girl sank trembling on her knees. In the meantime I had readjusted my disintegrator for another discharge, and Colonel Smith stood by me with the light of battle upon his face. "Sweep the discharge across the three," I exclaimed. "Otherwise there will be one left and before we can fire again he will crush us."
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