midnight
When we reached the entrance hall , where the raiding party was to meet , we found that there was already assembled a majority of the force , including Wagner . The party was only twenty strong , as the atomic anionizers were to do the main work and the planned raid required stealth and secrecy , not force or might . Within a quarter of an hour all the stragglers had arrived and all the anionizers were accounted for , so Wagner gave a short debriefing to ensure that all the members were on the same page . We were to sneak into the city when the populous was distracted by the fire on Lake Umquam Renatusum , which was to be started at midnight . We would plant the atomic anionizers at the right spacing so as to bring down the whole city once we were escaped , using the remote control provided for that very purpose . The suits would protect us from the blasts , and , as a precaution , the remote had an automatic five second delay between being pressed and exploding the bombs , though it was more for form than practicality . After he finished we set off , being arranged two abreast per row , there being ten rows .