“Did you fight?” he asked her. “Did you see Kelly die?”

“Yes, I fought! So just drop it, okay? It’s over and she’s dead. Mission not accomplished.”

They had reached Big Basin Redwoods Park, and Mark was glad that Gina hadn’t burned these magnificent trees. Pete was keeping to back roads but moving fast. Their radio was describing massive traffic on the main highways, and no doubt also danger, if that bizarre craft was nearby.

“It threw people into the bay?”

“People, animals, furniture.”

“So they can use gravity as a weapon. That’s power.”

“They can control storms, too,” Gina said. “Washington got walloped just as this was happening. Not an accident, would be my guess.”

“Did Kelly say anything about attempts to stop this machine?”

“There was a jet, but its missiles didn’t do anything.”

“Did they detonate or not?”

“I don’t know.”

He was silent for a time, thinking. “Pete, how practical would it be for us to get a chopper somewhere? What about Santa Cruz?”

“We can try, but I don’t think it’s gonna work, given the martial law situation.”

“Can anybody fly one?” Mark asked.

The answer was silence. Mark could fly a small plane, maybe even a fighter, but a helicopter was a different story. They did not forgive mistakes, and he would make mistakes.

Movement in the sky caught his eye and he leaned forward, pressing his hands against the windshield. In the vast blue, very high, was a shape that should not be there.

Without question, it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. Basically, it was a ring. Rising above it were antennae that seemed to claw at the sky. Hanging from its base was a long, tapering cord that could be seen twisting and turning. It ended in a purple, glowing tip, that, even as far away as it was, briefly flickered in Mark’s eyes.

What made it appear so ominous, he thought, was that it had not been designed to fly and it couldn’t fly, but there it was, airborne.

It appeared tiny, enveloped in the depth of the sky. He thought of a spider crawling across a windowpane.

“Mark, we need to go back,” Gina said.

That was enough. He turned around in the seat and faced her. “Gina, that’s the exact opposite of what we need to do. Which I think you know very well.”

“I’m still in charge, Mark.”

“Screw that,” he muttered.

He turned and stared at the road ahead. Maybe he should just do her. Dear God, but he loved her.

She’d had the most elegant old bed, nicest one he’d ever seen. He hadn’t had any real pleasure in his life, none at all, except her.

A more definite scatter of purple light played in the sheen of the hood.

“See that?” Pete said.