Providence by Max Barry

Author:Max Barry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

9

[Beanfield]

THE JET

Something needed to come out of her and she retched. It was a sad retch. It had no enthusiasm. It was the most perfunctory retch of her life. A thin line of drool issued from her mouth and when she went to wipe at it, she couldn’t move her arms.

She couldn’t see, either, actually.

Her head dropped. She wrestled it up. She didn’t know when her head had gotten so heavy. Or when her body had started hurting. And it wasn’t like it was just one part of her body. It was the whole thing. Actually, it was her side. And her left foot. But also everything. She felt squeezed. She tried to call out and emitted a low, wheezy croak, like a disappointed frog.

She appeared to be in a corridor. Alone. Alone in a corridor. Also she couldn’t move. Something was wrapped around her body. She felt entombed. It was very dark and her eyes wouldn’t focus but she was definitely entombed, alone, in a corridor.

“Ark,” she said. She didn’t want to be alone. Could it not be that, please? She was a people person. Whatever was happening here, she could deal, so long as there were people.

She couldn’t free her arms but managed to lift her legs. She pushed with her feet and slid her body a short distance. She wasn’t completely sure this was a good thing. There was a fog in her brain she couldn’t penetrate. Her left foot told her it had been a bad idea to put pressure on it, a very bad idea, and she tried to remember when she had done that. A few seconds ago. That was when.

Something creaked. The ship, she assumed. She couldn’t recall hearing the ship creak before, but maybe it was something you only noticed when you lay down in the dark, entombed, and listened.

There were salamanders. She remembered that. Jackson had shut down the ship and salamanders were coming.

From far away a fairy light danced toward her. It was faint and blue and she tried to resolve it into something sensible. It grew as it approached and she became fearful, because of the salamanders. Then, all at once, she saw Gilly’s face. The light was a glowstick, which he was holding.

“I’ve got you,” he said.

“Get her up,” said Jackson. She didn’t seem to have a fairy light. “We have to move.”

I’m okay, she tried to say, and it came out as, “Hnhh,” with plenty of saliva.

“Don’t try to move,” Gilly said. “You’re in a medbag.”

Really? That would explain a lot. A medbag would have sedated her. Now that there was a fairy light, she forced her chin down so she could look at her body. He was right: There was a shiny inflatable encasing her like a fat suit. At Camp Zero, they’d practiced fitting each other into these and waddling around. They weren’t supposed to, since anyone in a medbag would be in no shape to do anything other than lie still and try not to die.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.