Earthmen Die Hard!

The moon, with its strange accompanying cloud, had nearly set. The blue of the eastern sky was fading into apple-green. There was a roaring swish of sound, a shattering blast of energy, a whistling sigh, then a remote whisper. The needle-like structure from the valley became a flickering pin point in the sky. The girl leaned her blonde head against the shoulder of the man beside her. "We—we are free?" Her voice was but a whisper.