They watched spellbound for fifteen minutes, then a half hour. The Shannons were sure they had never seen anything quite so breathtaking as this.
At one time a row of peaks seemed to glow with a sheet of red flame. The flame danced and flickered like a forest fire for a long time before it faded out.
The children had been enjoying themselves so thoroughly that they knew nothing of the peril that was heading their way.
The first warning came when one of the skyport men standing nearby shouted over his space suit radio. Steve whirled in alarm. His heart seemed to stop beating completely for a terrible moment.
A tardy plane had come in for a landing on the sky platform. But the howling wind had kept everyone from hearing the warning siren.
Because of the fierce blowing, the plane had not hooked firmly to the braking line. It scooted off to the side and was heading for the very spot where Bobby, Steve and Sue stood.
“Bobby!” Steve cried. “Get out of the way!” As Bobby ducked for safety, Steve also moved quickly. Sue screamed as Bobby grabbed her hastily by her space glove. He had to jerk her sharply in order to get her out of the path of the runaway plane.
The plane crashed into the plastic wall of the skyport, tearing out a section of wall as though it were thin cardboard. The ship was left dangling on the very edge as if ready to fall a mile to the ground.
“The poor pilot!” Sue cried. “Oh, I can’t look!”
But the skyport men had come running quickly over and together they pulled the jet plane back to safety. They helped the scared pilot out. He walked shakily off into one of the hangars.