The truth dawned on him, then: The beam stopped short as if cut off by a wall ... because, indeed, a wall had risen up before it!
A dull, translucent wall of silvery grey.
Numbly, he lanced the beam skyward.
There, too, it broke on the grey shell.
Boone's panic channeled into fury. He spun about; struck savagely at the barrier.
Blood spurted from split knuckles. The wall remained.
Twisting, he hurled his full weight against the barrier.
Again, it threw him back.
He straightened, then; swung round the light-rod, searching the shell for some flaw, some weakness.
He found none.