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radiations from the stricken planet millions of miles away, and for a moment I could almost feel the fierce
actinic waves of ultra-violet, cosmics and a thousand other super-spectral radiations.
Then the peak was reached, and the light began to fade as all the hydrogen was transmuted and
consumed. In a moment the flare of energies was gone, and the pale blue planet had become a glowing
orange coal.
We had seen a billion persons dying in a planetary suttee.
The vastness of the dead stunned me. I found that I was sobbing, almost weeping as I felt myself
stained with a cosmic guilt.
The officer who had destroyed a billion lives glanced at me in full understanding of what he had done.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, strangely comforting.
"It couldn't be helped," he said in a voice that surged with emotion.
I nodded bleakly. It couldn't be helped. "It was for the sake of Earth," I said, blindly seeking
justification. "Earth was destined to win, in my time-sequence, and I had interfered I had to correct the
consequences of my blunder "
I stopped. Wild astonishment burst through the tragic mask on the face of the officer. He drew back
his arm as though he had found himself embracing an adder.
"What's the matter?" I asked in astonishment.
He stared at me with dawning comprehension and pity. "Say that again!" he whispered.
"Why I said I had to correct my mistake. I had interfered, and the time-traveler who interferes
maroons himself hopelessly. I had destroyed your weapon against Venus yet Venus had to be
obliterated, or else I had no chance of return. I was lost and now, perhaps, I may have a chance to get
back."
He shook his head. There was compassion in his voice. "No, you have no chance," he said, and
hesitated while I tried to take in his meaning. "You see, this is Venus." He waved at the glowing cinder in
the sky. "That was Earth up there."
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