..?" stammered Joe.
"He sustained a powerful shock," said Madera. "The energy was too much
for that panel and it backed up to the terminal here. Mark had his hand
on the keyboard."
Zip was taking Mark's pulse. Mark's right hand was blackened and his
sleeve was frayed up to the elbow. "His pulse is strong. I think he's
just unconscious. It must have been quite a blow!"
"Yes, it was," said Madera. "I could feel the power of it just standing
nearby! But his heart is beating strongly! Let's get him back to the
Tempest where he can receive some care!"
"What about the power?" asked Joe, getting to his feet.
"Look around you, Joe," said Madera with a wave of his hand.
Joe and Zip looked out toward the plant.
"Hey!" exclaimed Joe. "It's okay! It's leveled off!" The shriek had
diminished to a gentle hum once again, and the sounds of popping
conduits and breaking glass had disappeared. "What happened?"
"I think that the panel over there was a huge breaker for this part of
the power system. Mark was right. There was enormous danger in starting
the plant up after so long. The energy surged through it and even the
breaker couldn't handle it very well. It blew up when it couldn't
handle the strain any more, and diverted the energy it couldn't absorb
back into the terminal here.
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