Marshal and Averette North, a retired couple, had climbed to the top of
the crater wall to enjoy the sunrise. Six miles away was the atmosphere
plant, gleaming in the newly-risen sun.
They were the only ones to see what happened next, but it happened so
quickly that there was almost nothing to see. In the thin atmosphere,
there was only a slight vapor trail and a short-lived but powerful
whine; then with a dull, gut-churning thud a ball of black and orange
flame slammed obliquely into the desert floor within a quarter of a
mile of the atmosphere plant. An enormous wave of pinkish-ochre sand
rose up in front of the impact site like a great wall. The shock wave
quickly blew the wall of sand upward and outward, so that it sparkled
like luminous rain until the sand particles became too scattered to be
seen.
The shock wave struck the atmosphere plant and shoved it aside as if a
giant, invisible hand were violently clearing a table of unwanted
crockery. The crater wall where the Norths were standing rocked and
heaved as if in an earthquake. The shock wave passed them, blowing
their hair and rippling their clothing as if it were a pleasant breeze
that died away as quickly as it had come.
The elderly couple stood frozen in shock and watched the cloud of dust
gradually fill the entire eastern sky.
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