 Why did the citizens of Superior fear the edge of the town?
Radio messages stated simply that Superior had seceded from Earth. But Don Cort, stranded on that rising town, was beginning to suspect that nothing was simple about Superior except its citizens. The state police converged on the former site of Superior from several directions. The train's schedule called for it to pass through but not stop at Superior at 11:58. A National Guard officer volunteered to take a jeep down into the pit, having found a spot that seemed navigable. The object loomed out of a cloudbank at twelve thousand feet and Studley changed course to avoid it. Don made his way up to the locomotive and found a bigger knot of people gathered in front of the cowcatcher.
 They feared that they would plummet to the ground because of gravity.
 They feared that they would plummet to the ground because of gravity.  They feared they would fall with the flow of the stream.  They feared they would vanish if they left the edge.  They feared they would be sucked into a vortex.