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They headed oceanward past the sea-grass toward the green spark of the fourth lantern, tiny al faintly as they scuffed it Margo took Paul&039;s ar on?" she whispered He nodded She said, "Paul, what if the stars around it should squiggle now?"

Paul said, "I think I can see a white light beyond the fourth green one And figures And so looked as if it had once been soe beach house, or else a small beach club The ere boarded up On this side of it was a rather large floor, unsided and unroofed, about two feet above the sand, that could hardly be anything else but an old dance floor On it had been set about a hundred folding chairs, of which only the front twenty or so were occupied The chairs faced the sea and a long table, slightly elevated on what had once been the orchestra&039;s platforht shining on their faces - the only illureen lantern at the back of the audience

One of the three persons had a beard; another was bald and wore glasses; the third was in evening dress with a white tie and wore a green turban

Beardy was speaking, but they weren&039;t yet near enough to hear hio clutched Paul&039;s arm "The one with the turban is a woot up from the sand near the lantern and approached theht blinked on, and they saas a narrow-faced girl with pale reddish braids She couldn&039;t have been more than ten She had soer of the other across her lips The white light was that of a sainst her chest by a cord around her neck As she ca, "We&039;ve got to be quiet It&039;s started Take a prograot a cat," she whispered "I don&039;t think Ragnarok will o and Paul had each taken a sheet, she led theestured that they should sit down in front When Margo and Paul, s their heads, sat down in the back row instead, she shrugged and started to go away

Margo felt Miaow stiffen The cat was staring at sonarok was a large Ger

The h continuing to stare unblinkingly with ears laid back

The little girl came behind them "I&039;m Ann," she whispered "The one with the turban is my mother We&039;re froreen lantern

General Spike Stevens and three of his staff sat close-crowded in a dimmed room of the Reserve Headquarters of the US Space Force They atching two large television screens set side by side Each screen showed the same area of darkened hthand screen was relayed fro 23,000 rees south of Hawaii, while the one on the lefthand screen came from a similar equatorial satellite over a point in the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil where the "Prince Charles" was ato south

The four viewers crossed their eyes with practiced skill, fusing the iinated 30,000 eratedly three-di out solidly "We can give the new electroaeneral said "I&039;d say that&039;s adequate crater definition now Christbone Jinified view of the whole ford studied the General covertly, knitting together her long, strong fingers Soler&039;s hands, and she never looked at the General without reave her a bitter satisfaction that Spike should sound as casually confident asthe Nine Worlds froard, yet that he knew no more of where they noere than did she: that they ithin fifty round They had all been driven here, and had entered the elevator hooded, and they had not h Bundy and Pepe Martinez sipped at their fourth stick of tea, passing the potent thin reefer fro in their lungs They sat on cushions and a carpet in front of a little tent with strings of wooden beads for a door, pitched on a rooftop in Harleht each other&039;s with the friendly watchfulness of weed-brothers, then ether toward the eclipsed h said "See that bronzy sh"

Pepe said, "We&039;re gonna be way out there ourselves You planning to eclipse, Arab?"

Arab said, "The astronomical kick is the most"