Wilson grinned. "Call it confusion then!" he said, with a wave at the dome. "And I hope they have it!"
As they watched, a group of dots moved from the group and started away, slowly, at an angle. They watched until the dots had progressed a few feet from the main cluster.
Ted Wilson eyed them intently. "There must be some reason.... Allison!"
"Yes?"
"See if you can project an imaginary line across that damn dome! I'll bet that our lifecraft lies somewhere along the course!"
Allison yelled, "Jones! Halligan!"
The dome blacked out with a puff of smoke from one bay. A tech groped deep in one of the open panels and went to work with long-handled tools. Someone called above the hubbub that they'd have it back in shape in a minute.
Wilson mumbled, "Sixteen thousand delicate infrawave parts, and a half-million electronics components, all balanced on the pinpoint of a page of equations rolled into a dunce's cap! And I have to live with it!"
Allison grumbled, "Hell, nothing is perfect the first time."
"All right, forget it." Wilson shrugged, as the dome flickered on again.