"Some of it."
"Do you think we can do anything like that again?"
Lucifer looked over the nearest group. Many of the adults showed the same shock he had seen in Nina. The children were no longer so awed, and their eyes were strangely bright.
"I don't know what we can do again," he answered. "And I'm not sure I want to know."
The clearing filled rapidly. Each sector leader's group was separated by about ten yards from the next, and all formed an uneven, convex line some four hundred yards from end to end.
"All set, Doc," said Fetzer. He fired a cylindrical weapon, and a streak of orange light curved over the compound.
"That's to give our boys a chance to get back into the woods—those that still can. They'll be ready to hit again—if this other thing doesn't work."
He waited for orders.
Lucifer stared across the compound. The fear in his stomach made him feel like retching. These people were waiting for him to lead! Incredible.
"You have to go on now," Nina said.