Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/89

Rh assistance, and it was certain that no one on either ship could have survived such an explosion. For some minutes afterwards the shells and torpedoes could be seen exploding far away in the distance, and then there was nothing to be seen of either ship. The fragments would go on dashing through space until they encountered some obstacle or were attracted on to some planet.

Nothing occurred for some time to vary the monotonous routine of the voyage. All of the officers and most of the men had been for a voyage through space before, so it was no new experience for them. The superior officers were busily engaged during most of the time working out various tactical problems, and the men were kept constantly practising at working the guns and other offensive apparatus. Messages were continually being flashed backwards and forwards to the earth and Neptune. When the fifteenth day had arrived, Neptune showed a large disc, and this grew