Countdown by Greg Cox

Author:Greg Cox
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-05-19T22:00:00+00:00

20 AND COUNTING.

THE BLEED.

Roiling clouds of radioactive vapor churned outside the Monitor’s energy-sphere. Crimson lightning lit up the billowing mists. A bloodred radiance suffused the stormy atmosphere, which seemed to stretch on endlessly in all directions. Turbulence rocked the globe beneath the Challengers’ feet, making it difficult to stand upright. Donna braced herself against the curved wall of the sphere to keep from falling. Talk about a bumpy ride, she thought. This thing needs seat belts.

“So where are we now?” Jason asked. He scowled at the daunting scenery outside. “We taking a detour through Hell or something?”

Donna had to admit this unnamed cosmos had a distinctly infernal appearance. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were traversing Tartarus itself. Minus the three-headed dog, of course.

“My people call this realm The Bleed,” Solomon informed them. “It is the formless void between the fifty-two universes.” Unlike Donna and Jason, he seemed to have no difficulty maintaining his balance. He tracked their progress on a holographic display screen. “The Bleed’s chaotic energies render it all but impossible to monitor, which should hide us from my brethren for the time being.”

Donna was grateful for the respite. “But they’re definitely after us, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” Solomon admitted. “The other Monitors refuse to accept my interpretation of recent events. They deny all evidence of the catastrophe to come. We can expect them to oppose us at every turn.”

“Took them long enough,” Jason muttered. “I thought you guys were supposed to be on top of things.”

“I must confess to a deception,” Solomon explained. “I uploaded a fifty-two-minute delay into the central Nexus, keyed into my own presence. What they monitored regarding me . . .”

“Had already happened almost an hour earlier,” Jason grasped. “Sweet!”

“The stratagem bought us time.” Solomon adjusted the navigational controls. “But, alas, they have obviously become aware of the discrepancy.”

Donna nodded soberly. “So from here on, wherever we go, they can find us.”

“That’s going to put a real crimp in our grand tour of the Multiverse,” Jason observed. He reloaded his automatic pistol. “We’re going to have to fight our way to Palmer.”

“No,” Solomon said. “That will not be necessary. My brother revealed more than he had intended.” He gazed past the transparent walls of the sphere at the hellish red maelstrom before them. “I now know exactly where Ray Palmer is.”

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