As for Zaidie, all her fears were for the time being lost in wonder, until she saw her husband take a swift glance round upwards and downwards, and then go up into the conning-tower.

She followed him quickly, and said: "What is the matter, Lenox, are we falling too quickly ?" "Much faster than we should," he replied, sending a signal to Murgatroyd to increase the force by three-tenths.
The answering signal came back, but still the _Astronef_ continued to fall with terrific rapidity, and the awful landscape beneath them--a landscape of fire and chaos--broadened out and became more and more distinct.
He sent two more signals down in quick succession.

Three-fourths of the whole repulsive power of the engines was now being exerted--a force which would have been sufficient to hurl the _Astronef_ up from the surface of the Earth like a feather in a whirlwind.

Her downward course became a little slower, but still she did not stop.

Zaidie, white to the lips, looked down upon the hideous scene beneath and slipped her hand through Redgrave's arm.