chunk: Little by little, as civilization crumbles around them, the Mayfield science team learns about the comet dust and how to protect machinery from it. One by one, the radio contacts cease as violence sweeps over the metropolitan areas, but aided by a clue from Berkeley just before it was destroyed Ken’s father devises a compound that will decontaminate metal surfaces. A failed attack by marauders attempting to rob the town and a flu epidemic decimate the population, but Ken has an idea that using ultrasound will coagulate the comet dust so that it will fall out of the atmosphere. Egged on by a pair of fanatics, a mob burns the college, but not before the knowledge of the ultrasonic coagulators has been shared. With people in more and more areas building coagulators and decontaminating metal parts, people around the world begin the slow and painful process of rebuilding civilization.