"One plane is not enough," Marvak said. "It has to be strong enough to supply current to a fleet of planes."
He started triumphantly back to the transmitter.
"I—" Fradin faltered. He started to say something but changed his mind abruptly.
Marvak kicked over the handle of the rheostat that fed current into the transmitter. The transformer groaned. I could see the hand of the meter on the transmitter. It was moving forward as more and more current flowed into that mysterious medium that transmits radio waves.
The needle on the dial touched the red mark.
Then—it happened.
If I live to be a thousand years old I'll never be able to describe adequately what I saw happen, what I heard happen, what I felt happen. It had never happened before.
Something that I can only describe as a lightning flash ran through the room. It was a sharp, tearing crash, similar to the sound you hear when a bolt of lightning hits near you. There was a flash of brilliant light. Thunder seemed to smash my ear drums.
Fradin leaped—but not at Marvak. He leaped at me. The next instant he was grabbing me, shoving me across the room. And all the tortures of hell were breaking loose around that generator.