"I'll do the talking. Who are you three? What are you doing here? Speak up." "We--we are going back to our village," Erick muttered, staring down, his hands folded. "We were in the City, and now we are going home." One of the soldiers spoke into a mouthpiece. He clicked it off and put it away. "Come with me," the Leiter said. "We're taking you in. Hurry along." "In? Back to the City?" One of the soldiers laughed. "The City is gone," he said. "All that's left of it you can put in the palm of your hand." "But what happened?" Mara said. "No one knows. Come on, hurry it up!" There was a sound. A soldier came quickly out of the darkness. "A Senior Leiter," he said. "Coming this way." He disappeared again. * * * * * "A Senior Leiter." The soldiers stood waiting, standing at a respectful attention. A moment later the Senior Leiter stepped into the light, a black-clad old man, his ancient face thin and hard, like a bird's, eyes bright and alert. He looked from Erick to Jan. "Who are these people?" he demanded. "Villagers going back home." "No, they're not. They don't stand like villagers. Villagers slump--diet, poor food. These people are not villagers. I myself came from the hills, and I know." He stepped close to Erick, looking keenly into his face. "Who are you? Look at his chin--he never shaved with a sharpened stone! Something is wrong here." In his hand a rod of pale fire flashed. "The City is gone, and with it at least half the Leiter Council. It is very strange, a flash, then heat, and a wind. But it was not fission. I am puzzled. All at once the City has vanished. Nothing is left but a depression in the sand." "We'll take them in," the other Leiter said. "Soldiers, surround them. Make certain that--" "Run!" Erick cried. He struck out, knocking the rod from the Senior Leiter's hand. They were all running, soldiers shouting, flashing their lights, stumbling against each other in the darkness. Erick dropped to his knees, groping frantically in the bushes. His fingers closed over the handle of the case and he leaped up. In Terran he shouted to Mara and Jan. "Hurry! To the car! Run!" He set off, down the slope, stumbling through the darkness. He could hear soldiers behind him, soldiers running and falling. A body collided against him and he struck out. Someplace behind him there was a hiss, and a section of the slope went up in flames. The Leiter's rod-- "Erick," Mara cried from the darkness. He ran toward her. Suddenly he slipped, falling on a stone. Confusion and firing. The sound of excited voices. "Erick, is that you?" Jan caught hold of him, helping him up. "The car. It's over here. Where's Mara?" "I'm here," Mara's voice came. "Over here, by the car." A light flashed. A tree went up in a puff of fire, and Erick felt the singe of the heat against his face. He and Jan made their way toward the girl. Mara's hand caught his in the darkness.