uilding of metal with
the cables depending from it, still hung motionless. It now burst into
sound. A low electrical hum; then louder to a whine--a scream. Our men
and girls were in the air around it. I too was there. Tarrano's men--the
remaining few who were desperately fighting--had suddenly withdrawn.

And then we knew the purpose of this hanging room. A strange form of
some tremendous electro-magnet. I could feel it pulling at me. My power
to guide myself in the air was wavering.

From my height I could see down into this ceilingless rectangle. It was
un-manned by humans. A room of whirling, flashing knives! Above it, even
then some of our men were struggling in its magnetic grip ... being
drawn down into it ... a girl's power must suddenly have collapsed; she
was sucked in with a rush--torn to fragments by the whirling knives....

The area of magnetism seemed to spread for a helan or more. Everywhere
around me I saw our men and girls struggling with it, fighting to keep
away, but closing in a ring around it ... faster, continually more
helpless until at last, their bodies out of control whirling end over
end, they were sucked in like water rushing into a turbine.... One of
our weakened towers attacked it; but some of the remnants of Tarrano's
projectors caught the tower and darkened it.

Through the rising clouds of steam I could see the magnet vaguely now.
But I could feel it pulling; and soon, in spite of myself, I was fairly
close above it. I strove to keep my wits. The others who were meeting
their death lost control of their bodies at the last and could not use
their cylinders. I had some battery power remaining; I snapped on my
disintegrating ray to test it. It was my last desperate recourse.

I righted my body, and yielding to the magnetic pull, ceasing to
struggle, I dove head first at that yawning rectangle. A gleaming blur
of knives ... blood-stained now ... within these rectangular walls
horrible carnage....

A second of despair; but my ray struck true ... Around me was chaos; my
senses reeled, went black for an instant. But I recovered, found myself
whirling in the empty air....

The city was melting into a turmoil of boiling water and surging steam.
The fighting everywhere had ceased. Wavering figures were
rising--fugitives struggling away. With my senses still confused, I
righted myself, undecided where to go or what to do. Above me two
figures were still in combat. One of them--a man--assailed