"You're damned right I do," Lt. Chandler said.
"We're about there," Capt. Lawler cut in. "You still okay, Charlie?"
"Fine."
"Here's the little ridge, then. Hold on, we're taking the angle up. You riding okay, Charlie?"
"Fine, Skip."
After a moment, Capt. Lawler said, "I see the base now. The top. Hey!" He slammed on the brakes. "Oh, no! Those ... those fools! Those idiots."
"What's wrong?" Major Winship demanded. "Skip—what's wrong?"
"The second little dome is down. It wasn't that way a couple of hours ago. And they've block-and-tackled a drum of calking compound up on the main dome."
"We've got to stop them!" Major Winship cried. "Skip! Skip!"
"Charlie, there's nothing we can do. The drum's just starting to turn red."