 By the end of the passage. what can we understand about the opening scene?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Planet Stories Spring 1944. Outside, the stars were as before: tiny, myriad points of light, infinitely far away. It was a kind of indefinable emptiness. I do not think it was what Peter called an emotion; and yet it had nothing to do with logic, either. It was just an emptiness—a void that could not be filled by eating or drinking. His dream was perfect; the Citadel was complete, every minutest detail provided for—on paper. Then there would remain only the task of blasting the great, shining ship out into the carefully-calculated orbit that would be its home. He could see, too, the level on level of laboratories and storerooms that filled its interlocking segments; the meteor deflectors, the air renewal system, the mighty engines at the stern—all the children of his brain. Out there, away from the muffling, distorting, damnable blanket of atmosphere, away from Earth's inexorable gravitational pull, would be a laboratory such as man had never seen. The ship would be filled with the sounds of busy men and women, wresting secrets from the reluctant ether. But the other part was going calmly, lucidly on, quite without his volition. The order was made public early this morning by R. Stein, Secretary of the Council, who said in part: "The reason for this ... order must be apparent to all civilized peoples. There can be few within reach of printed reports or my words who have not seen the Invaders, or whose friends have not seen them. "The peoples of the world, then, know what they are, and know that we face the most momentous struggle in our history. "Since the Invaders first appeared in Wood River, Oregon, 24 hours ago, they have not once acknowledged our attempts to communicate, or in any way taken notice of our existence as reasoning beings. They have treated us precisely as we, in less enlightened days, might have treated a newly-discovered race of lower animals. But in instance after instance, they have done as they would with us. They have examined us, dissected us, driven us mad, killed us with no discernable provocation; and this is more intolerable than any normal invasion. "I have no fear that the people of Earth will fail to meet this challenge, for there is no alternative. Not only our individual lives are threatened, but our existence as a race.
 Despite being logical, Robert feels emotional about killing Peter.  He is at odds with himself.
 Without Peter, the ship won't be functional anymore.  Despite being logical, Robert feels emotional about killing Peter.  He is at odds with himself.  Robert kills Peter without any thought behind it.  Robert's cold logic has won him over completely.