Nothing stood against the bare skyline: no tree, no roof, not even the stump of a shelter wall. High in the sky a dirty sun filtered down and lit the shiny floor. There came a soft sound from somewhere in the room. Startled, Ord looked away. Across the couch, among the clutter of I.V.’s and respirator, Suk was crying.

"Pitar—something bad is happening to us.”

Now the great Bear and Pleiades

Torc, n. the turning moment of a tangential force - (Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary).