Andrew waited until the opening behind him had closed before removing the transit marker from its place.
The formation lost the last trace of light.
No one came through after him.
He shut down the room's remaining communication link to the abandoned staging point.
The room was quiet. Andrew listened a moment longer, then stepped away from the dead formation.
He had escaped.
Andrew put the marker away and checked his storage ring.
The Asura crystal was still there.
He brought it out only far enough to inspect the seal. The captured remains lay silent inside. The power he had used to cut Adam's contact remained sealed with them; there was no living Asura to ask what else it could do.
The seal had held. He would study the crystal later.
Andrew put the crystal back in his ring, closed his hand and turned toward the room's ordinary communication device.
A request from the observation post was still waiting in the list of interrupted contacts.
