One by one the reports came in. Fuming, Tawney checked off the sections, watched the net draw tighter throughout the ship. They were somewhere, they had to be....
But nobody seemed to find them.
He was buzzing for his first mate when the power went off. The lights went out, the speaker went dead in his hand. The computers sighed contentedly and stopped computing. Abruptly the emergency circuits went into operation, flooding the darkness with harsh white lights. The intercom started buzzing again.
"Engine room, boss."
"What happened down there?" Tawney roared.
The man sounded like he'd just run the mile. "Generators," he panted. "Blown out."
"Well, get somebody in there to fix them. Have a crew seal off the area...."
"Can't, boss. Fix them, I mean."
"Why not? What have we got electricians for?"
"There's nothing left to fix. The generators aren't wrecked ... they're demolished...."