He knew he could not overhaul Llysanorh'. Neither could he intercept him. A wireless decoy message was futile. Llysanorh' would never be caught by such a flimsy trick. But he must do something to prevent Llysanorh' from reaching Mars. How could it be accomplished? By sending a message to the Martian authorities? A futile thought. Even if the distance could be bridged, which was doubtful, Llysanorh' would, in all likelihood, intercept the message with his recorder. He would simply send a message to his friend to board a space flyer and to rush to him at top speed. The marriage ceremony could then be performed out in space. No, Llysanorh' must not know that he was pursued and still he must be prevented from landing. Ralph would literally move the heavens. He would threaten Mars with a comet! Llysanorh's patriotism could be depended upon to make an effort to divert the comet from its course, to avoid the imminent collision with Mars. This, Llysanorh' could do without danger to himself, simply by steering his flyer close to the head of the comet--within a few hundred kilometers. The gravitational action of his machine on the comet would deflect the course of the latter enough--even a few degrees would be sufficient to change the path of the meteor. But where was the comet to come from? To Ralph this was simplicity itself. He did not need to "catch" a comet--_he would manufacture one for himself_--a comet more unique than ever rushed through space. He knew that comets had been reproduced artificially on a small scale, centuries ago;[11] however, no one had ever tried to make a real comet. He also knew that the largest comets have a very small mass, and that the tail is composed mainly of gas and dust, which is so thin that the stars may be readily observed through the tail of almost any comet.[12] Ralph thus became the first human being to _create_ a heavenly body. As comets are composed mainly of hydrogen gas and dust, the creating of Ralph's artificial comet was absurdly simple to the scientist. By means of scraps of zinc and iron filings, over which sulphuric acid was poured, Ralph produced a great quantity of hydrogen. This he filled in tanks and when he had generated enough of the gas he connected the tanks with a large metal stop cock in the wall of the space flyer. As soon as the stop cock was opened the hydrogen rushed out into the open with a roar. Immediately Ralph connected his high frequency apparatus with the outside aerials of the space flyer and the expected phenomenon took place.