05. ST: Gateways - 7 - What Lay Beyond by Peter David;Keith R. A. Decandido;Christie Golden;Diane Carey;Susan Wright;Robert Greenberger

Author:Peter David;Keith R. A. Decandido;Christie Golden;Diane Carey;Susan Wright;Robert Greenberger [Greenberger, Peter David;Keith R. A. Decandido;Christie Golden;Diane Carey;Susan Wright;Robert]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure, High Tech, General
ISBN: 9780743431132
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2002-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

“….but what I do know,” and she squeezed his hand, “is that I’m with you. And that’s the most important thing. Together we can handle just about anything.”

He smiled at that. The vote of confidence seemed ever-so-slightly na? on her part, but he certainly wasn’t going to say that. Instead he appreciated the sentiment for what it was.

Calhoun was about to reply to her when a sudden explosion tore the air.

It froze Shelby and Calhoun in their tracks and they looked ahead to the Keep, eyes wide, as one of the lower sections suddenly erupted in flame. People were running, screaming, shouting defiance. Another section of the Keep exploded, and people fell off the parapets, arms pinwheeling in futility as if they were hoping they could grab handholds from the very air.

“Come on!” shouted Calhoun, yanking on Shelby’s hand.

She stayed where she was, looking at him incredulously. “You want to head toward that?!” she demanded. “You’re crazy!”

“We have to!” he told her.

Shelby knew beyond any question that it was madness. Despite the fact that Calhoun insisted this was Xenex, there was still some vague doubt in her mind. But if there was one thing she wasn’t doubting, it was that running toward some major battle was the height of folly. Far better to turn around and put as much distance between themselves and it as possible.

But even as that thought went through her mind, something told her that it was the wrong move. That they were in an insane situation, and it would be far better to surrender to that insanity and just…. just go along with it, even though it didn’t seem to make much sense.

“All right, fine!” she said, and allowed Calhoun to haul her forward.

Abruptly the air behind them was superheated, and seconds later Shelby was knocked off her feet by the impact of some sort of flaming mass of…. she had no idea what. All she did know was that it had crashed to the ground right where they’d been standing.

Her blood thudded in her temples as she realized just how close a call that had been, but Calhoun gave her no time to dwell on it. “Let’s go!” he said, yanking on her arm once more, and Shelby had no choice but to follow.

Death. Death in the air. Yes, she could smell it now, just as Calhoun had been saying yesterday—

“Yesterday?” The word hung in her mind even as it tumbled out of her mouth for no reason she could determine.

Calhoun glanced at her, clearly not understanding what she was referring to. “What about it?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” She didn’t fully comprehend herself what had prompted her to say that, and she certainly didn’t have the time to dwell upon it. “That was….that was just a close call, that’s all.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” he said dryly. “Come on.”

They pounded across the plains, and Shelby was amazed at how easily she was keeping up with Calhoun. She didn’t think he was running particularly slowly, but nevertheless she was pacing him with no difficulty.