He raced through the station, heading for the escape pod. He had to
get down to Earth. With what coherence he could muster, he had to tell
somebody about this, although it did not yet make any sense. But it
would, it would, it would have to. The naked man had been a man, yes,
but he had white round marble eyes and a knifelike, inhuman nose. If
they were on Earth, his kind could be found.
Web lowered himself into the escape pod, strapped himself down and
pressed the button. The pod shot down from the station, down and
away, and a great orange flame spread out from its bow. It lost speed
quickly, steadily, as the rockets pushed it back. After a while the
flames died out. The pod began to fall.