As the car halted at the barren limit of the last suburb of Telphar, a sudden white streak speared from the horizon. "Uh-oh," said Jon. "That's what I was afraid of."
Something caught fire in the air, twisted wildly through the sky, and then began to circle down, flaming.
"Major! Major! What happened to D-42?"
"Something got him. Pull over. Pull over everybody!"
"We can't spot it. Where'd it come from?"
"All right, everybody. Break formation. Break formation, I said!"
"Major, I'm going to drop a bomb. Maybe we can see where that came from in the light. I thought you said cripple."
"Never mind what I said. Drop it."
"Major Tomar. This is B-6. We've been—" (Unintelligible static.)