It was evening, and the resulting
cloud of dust created a sunset of spectacular beauty, with colors
rippling through the drifting sand like fire seen through a translucent
curtain.
The final impact occurred in the early darkness hours. The atmosphere
plant located northeast of Eagle Crater at 26 degrees north of the
equator and 85 degrees east of the central meridian was instantly
turned into rubble.
In a thirty-two-hour period, Mars had been scarred by five new craters,
each one a mile to a mile and a half across. More than ten billion
solars in damage had been done. Atmosphere generation on the red planet
could not be restored for at least five or six years.
Much more satisfying to Lurton Zimbardo was the fact that the entire
population of Mars was held inescapably captive by an hysteria of fear.
No one doubted that Zimbardo had spoken his threat accurately. The five
asteroids had arrived unseen until the last few seconds and had
pulverized their targets with accuracy of less than half a mile of
error. The fearful populace of Mars awaited the promised communication
from the pirate leader, in which he would reveal his demands.
15: A Microwave Net
SPACE COMMAND and Starlight Enterprise were filled with intense
activity. The previous day had been a roller-coaster ride of messages
from Mars and the Asteroid Belt.
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