The dome was destroyed. Arcot tried something else. He put on his control machine the equation of a hyperboloid of two branches, and changed the constants gradually till the two branches came close. Then he forced them against each other. Instantly they fought, fought terribly for existence. A tremendous blast of light and heat exploded into being. The energy of two tons of lead attempted to maintain those two branches. It was not, fortunately, explosive, and it took place over a relux floor. Most of the energy escaped into space. The vast flood of light was visible on Venus, despite the clouds. But it fused most of Antarctica. It destroyed the last traces of the camp in Antarctica. "Well--the Squadron was wiped out, I see." Arcot's voice was flat as he spoke. The Squadron: twenty ships--four hundred men. "Yes--but so is the Arctic camp, and the Antarctic camp, as well," replied Wade. "What next, Arcot. Shall we go out to intergalactic space at once?" asked Morey, coming up from the power room. "No, we'll go back to Vermont, and have the time-field stuff I ordered installed, then go to Sirius, and see what they have. They moved their planets from the gravitation field of Negra, their dead, black star, to the field of Sirius--and I'd like to know how they did it.[2] Then--Intergalactia." He started the ship toward Vermont, while Morey got into communication with the field, and gave them a brief report. [Footnote 2: "The Black Star Passes."] Chapter XII SIRIUS They landed about half an hour later, and Arcot simply went into the cottage, and slept--with the aid of a light soporific. Morey and Wade directed the disposition of the machines, but Dr. Arcot senior really finished the job. The machines would be installed in less than ten hours, for the complete plans Arcot and Morey had made, with the modern machines for translating plans to metal and lux had made the actual construction quick, while the large crew of men employed required but little time. When Arcot and his friends awoke, the machines were ready.