The man didn't go through it but waited for Zip. The leader
of the Starmen went through the portal onto a metal deck. Stairs went
upward. He began to climb, with the others following after.
Three flights up he came to another door, which opened as he set foot
on the landing. He went through it into a room outfitted as a small
hangar. Five spaceships of alien design were clamped to the floor. At
the far end of the hangar was an airlock.
Walking gingerly, Zip stepped out a little farther into the hangar. The
airlock was enormous and perfectly clear, revealing thousands of stars.
Though it had been only a few days since he had seen a starscape, now
it almost seemed as if he were perceiving the heavens for the first
time. A feeling of awe coursed through him.
"We're almost free," he whispered.
12: First Impact
"ALIEN SPACECRAFT!" murmured Joe, slowly. "Magnificent!"
He and Mark had followed Zip into the hangar. George St. George and his
men came after them. They huddled close together and remained at the
door while the Starmen strode across the floor of the hangar toward the
spacecraft.
The five ships were sleek craft with a highly swept delta wing design.
The hulls were a startlingly reflective deep forest green color. The
craft looked identical to each other, each about 75 feet long with a
wingspan of about 45 feet.
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