by James Axler
Shaking his head, trying to rid his ears of the chiming echoes, Kane stepped over the threshold. The room was small, dimly lit, bare and unfurnished. It looked more like an entrance foyer, not a chamber.
Grant climbed to his feet, grimacing and rubbing his shoulder. "Felt like the door was electrified."
"You intersected with the vibrational field around it," Brigid told him. "Good thing it broke as soon as you hit it or you could've been seriously hurt."
A turnstile security checkpoint occupied most of the opposite wall. Beyond it, they saw a short hallway ending at an open doorway. From it wafted a familiar sound, but Kane wasn't sure if he really heard it or only the ghostly after-chimes of the harp song. It sounded like the distant howl of a gale-force wind.
Brigid rushed forward toward the turnstile, blurting, "It's the gateway! It's activated!"
They pushed through the prongs of the checkpoint and into the narrow corridor. They had taken less than a dozen running steps before a stunted figure appeared in the doorway. All of them recognized David with Brigid's Ingram gripped in his small hands.
He laughed wildly as he triggered a long, stuttering burst, flame wreathing the short muzzle. Grant, Kane and Brigid went to the floor as a raking stream of auto-fire tore long gouges in the walls and chewed up ceiling tiles. A flurry of plaster dust sifted down on them.
David was a novice with a blaster, hosing the bullets around indiscriminately, the recoil of the full-auto firing rate kicking up the barrel.
Raising the harp, Kane sighted down the bottleneck and stroked the strings. Because of the Ingram's steady hammering, he barely heard the sound his strumming produced, but he saw its effect.
Ragged tongues of flame flared from the blaster in David's grasp as all the rounds in the magazine detonated with a brutal, bone-jarring concussion. The Ingram vanished. Up to the wrists, David's hands vanished with it.
He staggered on wide-braced legs, staring at the blood-spurting stumps at the end of his arms. As if he did not believe what his eyes saw, David lifted his wrists in front of his face. A stream of crimson squirted over his cheek.
By the time he had dragged enough air into his lungs to start screaming, Grant was on his feet and throwing a pile-driver right fist at his head. The scream went back into David's throat as the blow lifted him off his feet and flipped him through the door.
The little man hit the floor spread-eagled and made no movement afterward. Scarlet rivered from his wrists, spreading out around the raised base of the jump chamber, creating a moatlike effect.
The armaglass walls were of the same dark blue shade as that on the station, but Kane had no eyes for it. Resting on the shelves of a glass-fronted case, he saw all of their equipment, including their helmets and Sin Eaters.
On impulse, he aimed the harp at the case and thumbed a single string. The glass shattered with such an explosive, nerve-stinging jangle both Grant and Bri-gid jumped and cursed.
"You're getting tune-happy with that thing," Grant observed sourly, brushing away shards of glass and removing their possessions from the shelves.
"It would have to be my blaster that got vaporized," said Brigid ruefully.
"David probably couldn't figure out how the Sin Eater holsters worked," Kane replied, strapping his around his right forearm.
They put on their helmets, made sure that each oxygen apparatus was in working order, then sealed them to the collars of their suits.
Grant tapped the keypad affixed to the outer wall of the mat-trans unit. "We're going to Parallax Red ?"
"If that's where Sindri is," Kane said, "then that's where we'll be."
"How do we know he didn't screw around with the jump controls?" Grant asked. "We may be shunted off into a long trip through the Cerberus network."
"He doesn't have the know-how to do that, or the time," answered Brigid brusquely as she swung open the door. "This unit's destination coordinates are locked on to the station."
They stepped into the chamber, taking up positions on the diamond-shaped floor disks. Kane kept the harp tucked beneath his left arm. Though both he and Grant wanted to, they didn't unleather their blasters. A reflexive jerk of their fingers on the triggers while reviving from the transit could have lethal consequences.
Brigid pulled the door shut, initiating the automatic jump mechanism. Her tense whisper was transmitted into Grant and Kane's helmets "Mars, ave atque vale . 'Hail and farewell.'"
Chapter 30
The outlanders revived quickly and cleanly, more or less simultaneously. Once on her feet, Brigid cast a quick look at the others and made a sensor sweep with the motion detector, and when no movement registered outside the armaglass walls, she opened the door.
Not speaking, they passed through the antechamber and into the control room. It looked exactly the same as when they had first seen it. Even the hatch stood open, just the way Kane had left it. Pausing before it, they exchanged questioning glances.
Finally Grant rumbled, "Now where to? Even retracing our steps won't necessarily take us to Sindri. And this place is what, two miles in diameter?"
"Actually, 2.8 miles." Sindri's voice filtered into their helmets through the UTEL comm-link.
All of them skipped around in shock, half-expecting to see him seated at one of the consoles. Sin Eaters sprang into Kane and Grant's hands.
"I took the liberty of examining your communications system," continued Sindri smoothly, "so I could break into the frequencies if circumstances warranted. I wasn't sure if you had arrived until Mr. Grant spoke."
"Where are you?" Kane demanded.
"That's what I'm about to tell you. By the way, Mr. Kane, were you responsible for interfering with the gravity generator and thus ruining my and Miss Bri-gid's erotic encounter?"
"That wasn't why I did it," replied Kane, "but now that I know, that seems as good a reason as any."
Sindri's exasperated sigh filled their helmets. "You are truly a most egregious individual, Mr. Kane. I'm putting you at the top of my enemy list."
Dryly Kane retorted, "I'm honored. I'm sure I'm in good company."
"Actually, no. At present your name is the only one on it. I cleared the rest of them off some time ago."
Grant growled, "You little son of a bitch"
"Tut, tut, Mr. Grant. Have a care, sir, or your name will join Mr. Kane's. Now, as to where you can find me. Go down the promenade for approximately fifty yards. On your left you will see a maintenance access-way. Enter it and climb down. Then I will provide additional instructions."
They did as he directed, leaving the control room and walking along the deceptively down-sloping corridor.
"Can you see us?" Brigid asked at one point.
"Alas, no," answered Sindri. "I never got around to repairing the video security network on your part of the station. However, I presume you retrieved your weapons."
"Neighborly of you to leave them for us," Grant said snidely.
"Such an impulse was furthermost from my mind. I had only a little time to pull myself together, grab what I needed and hie my fair young ass hence to the mat-trans chamber."
Sindri paused, then said, "I left David behind to cover my back in case you came calling. If you didn't show, I ordered him to jump to the station with your equipment. Since you're here instead of him, I deduce he failed me."
"If it's any consolation," said Kane, "he did his best."
They reached the accessway, entered it and climbed down a metal-runged ladder. The temperature suddenly rose, and Kane guessed that this lower tier of the station was now facing the reflected sunlight from the Moon.
At the bottom of the shaft, they saw a labyrinth of pipes and wheel valves crisscrossing in all directions. Dismantled pieces of machinery lay scattered on the floor.
"We're here, Sindri," Brigid announced.
"Excellent. Look around you. Do you see a pipe painted yellow? Ahead and to your right a bit."
They searched, spotted the pipe and Brigid - said, "Yes."
The outlanders moved out, stumbling through the metal maze, bumping their helmets on low-hanging pipes and barking their shins. Grant swore and Sindri laughed.
"Find it a little cramped, do you? Funny, I never have trouble getting around."
Following the yellow pipe, they navigated around a mass of machinery that had once kept Parallax Red aliveheat, light, water, air and cooling systems, as well as huge storage bins.
The longer they walked, the more they noticed how light their bodies began to feel. Jumping over a length of tubing in his path, Kane sailed upward, helmet banging into an overhead elbow joint. He cursed.
Sindri's voice purred with amusement. "Oh, I forgot to mention that the closer you come to the axis, the less the influence of gravity. I suppose you found that out, though."
The pipe suddenly bent downward at a ninety-degree angle, disappearing into a thick iron collar bolted to the deck. They faced a blank and rust-streaked bulkhead.
"Now what?" Grant demanded.
"Turn to your left. Go about ten paces. You'll find another maintenance accessway. It's open." Sindri's tone no longer held a mocking note. "I have faith you'll figure it out from there."
The accessway was a straight chute. They had to stoop over to negotiate it. They exited on the sweeping curve of a corridor. Almost directly opposite them, they saw a narrow ramp slanting upward at a forty-five-degree angle.
They climbed its smooth surface quickly, aided by the light gravity. As they did, a steady deep throb, like the beat of a giant heart, entered their helmets. Near the top of it, Kane set down the harp. Brigid and Grant saw him do it, but they didn't question him. They stepped forward and saw more or less what they expected to see.
Sindri stood in the blister-shaped pocket, leaning indolently against the railing running the length of the raised platform. He twirled his walking stickor an exact duplicate of itbetween the thumb and forefinger of his gloved right hand.
He wore a drab gray environmental suit much like theirs. Only the helmet encasing his head was markedly different. The faceplate was far more rounded and tinted with an amber hue. He watched them walk into the chamber with only mild interest in his eyes. All of them looked around for transadapts, but they saw no one but Sindri.
The domed hollow enclosing the GRASER cannon was transparent, and naked starlight winked from its glossy, elongated barrel. Beneath the platform, lights flashed purposefully on the control consoles. The steady, rhythmic throb emanated from the row of dynamos.
As they approached the base of the platform, Sindri casually reached behind him with his left hand. When he withdrew it, a palm-sized remote-control unit nestled in it. He pressed a button.
Kane caught a flicker of motion at the periphery of his vision and whirled around, leading with his Sin Eater. His belly turned a cold flip-flop.
The dark metal ovoid of the molecular destabilizer rolled out from the far side of the platform. A white halo shimmered above the storage rings at its rear. A deep red light shone from the round, recessed lens facing them.
Sindri said sharply, "At the merest suggestion of hostility, you will learn a new interpretation of the old adage, "That's you all over.' Drop your weapons."
Kane hesitated only a moment, remembering the black protoplasmic remains of the Magistrates in Redoubt Papa. He unbuckled his Sin Eater from his forearm and dropped it to the deck. Reluctantly Grant followed suit.
"If you fire that thing in here," he said warningly, "you're liable to burn a hole in the hull."
"Since the MD's energy discharges can be fired with pristine precision," Sindri retorted, "the element of risk is acceptable."
Brigid swung her head up, impaling Sindri an em-erald glare. "Why did you lure us hereso we can watch you destroy Mars?"
Sindri chuckled. "As much as I adore melodrama, I'm not that far gone. As for the destruction of Mars, the fuse won't be lit for" he made an exaggerated show of consulting his wrist chron "another eight hours. It'll take that long for the dynamos to power up."
He stabbed the tip of his walking stick toward them. "Regarding your accusation that I lured you three here, I did no such thing. You came of your own accord, both times. You could have just as easily gone back to that Cerberus place you told me about. I wouldn't have stopped you."
"Go back and wait for you to drop pieces of Mars on us?" exploded Grant angrily. "Not fucking likely, dwarf!"
Sindri's lips compressed in a tight line. "Regardless of the consequences to Earth, I will have, at long last, stopped the song."
"And finally complete the bargain your ancestors struck with the Archons?" Kane snapped.
Sindri brushed aside his question with a sweep of his cane. "I care nothing about the Danaan, the An-nunaki or these Archons of yoursif they really exist. I care only about the survival of me and mine."
"That concern has consumed you to the exclusion of all else," Brigid stated in a remarkably calm voice. "It's an obsession that has blinded you to avenues of survival other than what you have planned."
Sindri made a snarling sound deep in his throat. "I had other avenues, remember? I counted on you to help me bring them to fruition. You dashed that hope, Miss
Brigid, closed off that avenue, leaving me with no option but to render this final solution."
Reasonably Brigid said, "Sindri, I'm not the only human female in the solar system. We can show you methods that will"
"/ don't want another human female !" Sindri's roar caused all of them to recoil as it filled their helmets. Lowering his voice to a petulant mutter, he said, "I want only you, polar bodies or not."
"What's he talking about, Baptiste?" Kane whispered, forgetting for a moment that Sindri could hear him as clearly as Brigid.
Sindri made a beckoning motion with his cane. "And I want you up here, beside me."
"No," grated Kane, putting a restraining hand on Brigid's arm.
Sindri touched a key on the remote. The MD rolled forward a few feet, the sparkling lens pointing toward Grant. "No objections, Mr. Kane, or Mr. Grant will die. Swiftly, painlessly, albeit messily, but he will most certainly be dead."
After a tense moment, Brigid said flatly, "Let me go, Kane."
Slowly he opened his hand. She strode to the platform, scaled the ladder and started to approach Sindri. He waved her back. "Far enough, Miss Brigid."
She stopped, staring at him in surprise. "I thought you wanted me beside you."
"Oh, very much. But only afterward. I don't want you trying to thwart me. I regret hurting you earlier when you tried to thwart me and I don't want to be forced to do so again."
Brigid shifted her feet uneasily. "What do you mean by 'afterward'?"
Sindri smiled at her impishly. "Afterward... following the removal of a pair of exceedingly troublesome factors to our personal equation."
Kane's eyes fixed on the remote-control unit and saw Sindri's index finger curve around to caress a button. Within a microsecond, he kicked himself off the floor, slamming headlong against Grant in a flying tackle, bowling him off his feet.
Grant's breath left his lungs in an explosive whoosh. Both men rolled ten feet across the deck, bouncing lightly. Without the reduced gravity, Kane would not have been able to push Grant away from the red streak that lashed out from the lens of the MD.
Kane heard a sizzling crackle, as if the very molecules of the thin air were seared by its passage. Brigid's shrill shout of fear and anger reverberated within the walls of his helmet.
Pushing himself away from Grant, he spared a half second to look at the section of inner bulkhead that had been sluiced away by the antiproton beam.
On the platform, Brigid struggled with Sindri, attempting to wrench the control unit from his hand while trying to avoid the blows he swung at her with his walking stick.
Crimson radiance sparkled in the lens of the particle-beam emitter. Kane and Grant leaped up and scrambled away from each other, trying to put as much distance be
tween them as the domed chamber would permit.
Kane started an abortive dash for the GRASER cannon platform, but a spear of hell-light spit toward him. He put all his strength into a backward lunge that carried him nearly to the ramp.
The MD shifted back in Grant's direction. He avoided the stream of deadly energy by executing a standing high jump. The beam missed his feet by a fractional margin and turned another section of the bulkhead into bubbling slag.
The low gravity aided them in evading the weapon's beam, but both men knew they couldn't keep ducking and leaping until the molecular destabilizer's batteries were drained. It was only a matter of seconds before one of them made a misstep and was unraveled.
Kane whirled toward the doorway, moving in yards-long bounds.
Sindri's sneering laughter sounded in his ears. "To where do you hope to run, Mr. Kane?"
He reached the top of the ramp, snatched up the harp and spun on his heel. Pointing the bottleneck of the instrument at the rolling molecular destabilizer, he strummed the strings fast and hard. Nothing happened, except that the lens spewed another whiplash of blood-hued light at him. The beam scorched a path across the deck, toward his legs.
Kane jumped but came down on a strip where the alloy turned to slush. His feet slipped out from under him, and he tumbled, cradling the harp in his arms. His roll ended a scant three feet from the front wheels of the MD.
Even as his heart seemed to seize and freeze in his chest, Kane struck the strings of the instrument repeatedly. The lens cracked, sparks spurting out between the splits. The glassy substance fell apart, and a borealis of ghostly light sprayed out from the aperture.
Kane shoulder-rolled away, coming to his feet. He saw Grant at the end of the chamber and Brigid still grappling with Sindri, trying to wrest the remote-control unit from his hand. He desperately pressed the buttons, sending the wheeled weapon careening on a crazy figure-eight course. It shed sparks in its wake.
Brigid stiffened her left wrist, locking the fingers in a half-curled position against the palm. She drove a vicious leopard's-paw strike against the base of Sin-dri's left hand.