ake a
big U in the desert and end up in Hovedstad. I got the course here.
Then I'll dump you and your friends and beat it back to our camp.
You're not still burned at me for what I said, are you? Are you?"

Brion didn't answer. He was staring fixedly out of the side window.

"What's doing?" Telt asked. Brion pointed out at the rushing darkness.

"Over there," he said, pointing to the growing light on the horizon.

"Dawn," Telt said. "Lotta rain on your planet? Didn't you ever see
the sun come up before?"

"Not on the last day of a world."

"Lock it up," Telt grumbled. "You give me the crawls. I know they're
going to be blasted. But at least I know I did everything I could to
stop it. How do you think they are going to be feeling at home--on
Nyjord--from tomorrow on?"

"Maybe we can still stop it," Brion said, shrugging off the feeling
of gloom. Telt's only answer was a wordless sound of disgust.

By the time they had cut a large loop in the desert the sun was well
up in the sky, the daily heat begun. Their course took them through
a chain of low, flinty hills that cut their speed almost to zero.
They ground ahead in low gear while Telt sweated and cursed,
struggling with the controls. Then they were on firm sand and
picking up speed towards the city.

As soon as Brion saw Hovedstad clearly he felt a clutch of fear.
From somewhere in the city a black plume of smoke was rising. It
could have been one of the deserted buildings aflame, a minor blaze.
Yet the closer they came, the greater his tension grew. Brion didn't
dare put it into words himself; it was Telt who vocalized the
thought.

"A fire or something. Coming from your area, somewhere close to
your building."

Within the city they saw the first signs of destruction. Broken
rubble on the streets. The smell of greasy smoke in their nostrils.
More and more people appeared, going in the same direction they
were. The normally deserted streets of Hovedstad were now almost
crowded. Disans, obvious by their bare shoulders, mixed with the
few offworlders who still remained.

Brion made sure the tarpaulin was well wrapped around the body
before they pushed the sand car slowly through the growing crowd.

"I don't like all this publicity," Telt complained, looking at the
people. "It's the last day, or I'd be turning back. They know our
cars; we've raided them often enough." Turning a corner, he braked
suddenly, mouth agape.

Ahead was destruction. Black, brok