Aetherial Annihilation by John Corwin

Author:John Corwin [Corwin, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Raven House
Published: 2015-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

My hands and knees met unforgiving rocks at the edge of the impact crater. I identified what had pulled me through the portal—a thin steel cable with a weight on the end. A shiny black robot stood on the other end of the cable. It jerked it once more before I could gain solid footing.

I tumbled into the impact crater and rolled within inches of the shards. "You're gonna be sorry if I touch this thing," I shouted. I rolled to my feet and yanked the cable, but didn't catch the big fish at the other end as the slack end slid into the crater with me.

These damned robots are a real nuisance!

"Justin!"

I turned toward Elyssa's voice and saw her face for only an instant. A flatbed trailer with a sparkling gray wall raced in front of the crater, blocking my view. Elyssa's shouts abruptly stopped and I didn't have to ask why. The wall on the back of the trailer looked like diamond fiber, magic immune, and apparently a great way to block the aether beam from the crystoid. The wall toppled toward me.

The crater was a death trap, and the diamond fiber wall was the lid.

I leapt out of the pit and rolled away just as the wall crashed into place. A quick glance told me it was a thick steel slab with a coating of diamond fiber. Even with my super strength, I'd have a hell of a time lifting that thing.

Shouts echoed in the air. Soldiers garbed in dark green uniforms and the sort of warm furry hats Russians favored emerged from behind boulders, guns waving. These men were no Russians. The big red stars on their uniforms left no doubt that they were North Korean soldiers.

Without the aether beam to supply me, I couldn't magic my way out of this, and there were too many soldiers to fight even with my supernatural strength. Why the hell didn't I put on Nightingale armor? This quickie project had just turned into a longie. I held up my hands and looked for an escape route. In addition to the encroaching soldiers, I spotted several snipers perched on boulders. I might be super resilient, but my skin wasn't bulletproof.

It didn't take a genius to realize this crystoid had been a setup.

First, a robot was ready to lasso whoever opened the portal. Second, they had a giant steel wall coated with diamond fiber. Third, the soldiers and snipers were perfectly positioned to shanghai me.

Although it was night here, several massive glowing balls floating above illuminated the area like the sun. At first I thought they were the magical ones, but dark silhouettes barely visible through the glare revealed large blimps—airships.

I tried to channel Murk just in case there was enough aether diverted by the diamond fiber and into the air, but the barest flicker of ultraviolet vanished the moment it was born.

Meanwhile, the soldiers shouted at me in their language. Of course I couldn't understand a word. I decided to remain absolutely still in case one of them had an itchy trigger finger.

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