And there was the matter of the girl....
The noise outside the street was a steady roar, now. The street was gorged with people on foot and on bicycles and in automobiles, fighting to get out of the city. He could hear screams and curses and over all, the faint crackle of flames.
In a few hours, the city would be a roaring inferno, he thought. There would be nobody left behind to put out the fires. And the scene would be duplicated a thousand times over before the sun went down.
And the next day there would be the final, terrible tempest when the Thuscans arrived. When humanity would go out in a short, confused struggle.
There was nothing left to do but prepare to die....
Then he thought again of Avis and knew there was one last, forlorn chance.
He raced back to the communications room and pressed the switches on the small television set with which he and Tanner used to communicate with Mr. Ainsworth on the Thuscan flag ship.
Avis had mentioned that her own fleet was standing by. A small fleet perhaps, but certainly not one without possibilities.
He waited a moment for the tubes to warm up, then dialed the frequency Avis had once mentioned. There was a pause and the screen grew bright. A face wavered on it for a moment and then grew steady. It was the face of a middle-aged man dressed in a dull blue uniform. His eyes looked like they had seen all there was to see of both heaven and hell.