They heard a rattle of machinegun fire. Another explosion shook the building. Voices shouted.
"We are witnessing the end of a world," said Ohashi.
"Our world ended when that spaceship set down here," she said.
Abruptly, the lights came on: glowing dimly, then brighter. The projector resumed its whirring. Ohashi turned it off.
Somebody walked down the corridor outside, rapped on the door, said: "All clear." The footsteps receded down the hall, and they heard another rapping, a fainter "All clear."
"Civilians," she said. "What do you suppose they wanted so desperately to do a thing like that?"
"They are a symptom of the general sickness," said Ohashi. "One way to remove a threat is to destroy it—even if you destroy yourself in the process. These civilians are only a minor symptom."
"The Russians are the big symptom then," she said.
"Every major government is a big symptom right now," he said.
"I ... I think I'll get back to my room," she said. "Let's take up again tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock all right?"