Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/86

74 powerful searchlights outside threw their rays in all directions. The other ships did the same, and the whole fleet presented a magnificent and beautiful spectacle as the light darted from ship to ship, until a considerable portion of the sky was covered with the streaks of light that crossed one another in every direction. A little later on another officer relieved Alec at his post, and he retired to his cabin to enjoy a few hours' repose.

Not long afterwards the fleet emerged from the earth's shadow, and plunged again into the sunshine, and the lights were extinguished, as being no more required for the present. The heat-radiation apparatus was set at work to prevent the vessels from getting too hot, for in space, where there is no air, the temperature is much higher than that of boiling water. The moon was soon approached and passed, the numerous craters sweeping past like a hurricane, showing how enormous the speed of the vessels had become.