What was left of the spacer came slipping out of the gaping rent in the Curtain. Gravity took it. It fell in a fiery tangle of wreckage.
Curt was scarcely aware that his legs propelled him away from the scene.
He caught sight of Lorine and Tor Ekkov, and hurried toward them. They huddled in a doorway and looked out upon the scene. Flames crackled up from a few of the buildings. None of the other men were in sight; they had scurried somewhere to safety.
"There went our last chance! Jeffers fixed everything!"
Curt's voice was a well of bitterness. These Energon forces weren't finished by any means, and Curt knew it. Their work would go on....
But his mission for DeHarries was finished. The secret of this place was still secret.
The fate of the Federation had rested upon Curt's shoulders, and he had failed.
As if in answer, a blaze of violet light appeared far across the compound. It was the Zemmd again!—a smaller entity now, but Curt knew it would increase in power as more and more of the Energons revived to join it!
It moved slowly, as if searching. Searching for the Curtain—and Lorine. It disappeared, appeared again, and once more vanished from sight.