Obviously, an accidental phenomenon, since the location and angle of the impacts have been what you'd expect from happenstance. Butthis -" He jabbed a finger at the screen. "This is what you'd expect from a marksman taking deliberate aim. It's dead on. Not a single joule is going to be wasted just moving tons of earth or water at random. I estimate the impact area won't be more than half a mile in diameter. If that."

Karen Berg shook her head. "But, Leo, they've all had a diameter smaller than that. Much smaller, we figure. So I don't see why…

Oh." "Yeah. 'Oh.' But none of them had anything like this kind of energy, did they? Not since Grantville." He gave Richard a sidewise glance. "Fine. Not since oursupposition of the energy levels involved in the Grantville event." Berg looked back at the screen. "Jeepers.

Margo, do you have any idea yet where it's going to hit?" Hearing no answer, she looked down at Glenn-Lewis. Whose face, pale to begin with, now looked as white as the proverbial ghost. "Yeah," Glenn-Lewis said. "With this much energy and given the chronoletic readings, the trajectory firmed up much sooner than usual. It's going to hit not far from here. Somewhere around the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers." "Holy Moses," hissed Malcolm. "St. Louis? That's got a population of… jeez, what it is? Two million people?" Margo shook her head. "It'll miss St. Louis by a comfortable margin. But…"

She sprang to her feet. "Who's coming with me?" The rest of the people in the room stared at her. "What are you talking about?" asked Karen.

"Afield expedition? You couldn't possibly get there in time!" Dingley cleared his throat. "And a good thing, too. Margo, this thing isdangerous, for God's sake. The last time we got a chronoletic impact this powerful, a whole town got destroyed." "It might still be dangerous after the fact," added Karen, uncertainly. "The energy involved… Thatis the area that has the worst earthquake potential in North America, let's not forget." Leo looked startled.