Auben's prayer stopped abruptly.
He stood, lost and hollow, before the broad semi-circular control console at the command seat.
By his ears, a shrill alarm was suddenly drilling out from some unknown corner, the low sobbing wail rapidly sharpening into a hair-raising screech. At the same time, every electronic instrument on the SkyNet Control Console—radar, energy scanner, fleet coordination system, damage control system—burst into a cacophony of electronic warning tones.
Amid this maddening roar, the Command Room flared into sudden brightness.
The electronic lights studding the ceiling paled before the burst of brilliance from the viewports. It was practically a bolt of lightning, slashing open this enclosed space and tearing at everyone's retinas—the entire warship was engulfed by the Energy Cannon barrage.
