one
o'clock in the afternoon
The recall mechanism functioned by broadcasting a power wave that again reversed the atomic charge of the Belt and its contained object back to that of Earth . At the same time the recall wave exerted an attractive force that drew the atoms back to a central point in the laboratory , where they were re-materialized upon the same floor-plate from which they had originally been sent . * * * * * The twelve-hour time limit was half up when Benjamin Marlowe and Larry Powell finally straightened up wearily from their work over the recall mechanism , their repairs completed . It had been one o'clock in the afternoon when Joan Marlowe vanished from Earth in the roseate flare of the projector . It was now nearly seven o'clock . With nerves tense from anxiety , the two men crossed over to the control-panel of the recall apparatus . This time they donned goggles of dark glass to shield their eyes from the blinding green glare .