"It was the biggest and fastest mass evacuation ever attempted. I pieced the reports together. There was hell popping around here during the two days we—we waited it out."
"Where did they all go?" Nora asked.
"South. They've evacuated a forty-mile strip from the lake west. The first Terran defense line is set up in northern Indiana."
"What do you mean—Terra."
"It's a word that means Earth—this planet. The invaders came from some other planet, they think—at least from no place on Earth."
"That's the silliest damn thing I ever heard of," Wilson said.
"A lot of people probably thought the same thing," Frank replied. "Flying saucers were pretty common. Nobody thought they were anything and nobody paid much attention. Then they hit—three days ago—and wiped out every living soul in three little southern Michigan towns. From there they began spreading out. They—"
Each of them heard the sound at the same time. A faint rumble, increasing swiftly into high thunder. They moved as one to the window and saw four jet planes, in formation, moving across the sky from the south.
"There they come," Frank said. "The fight's started. Up to now the army has been trying to get set, I suppose."
Nora said, "Is there any way we can hail them? Let them know—"