The Q Continuum: Book One: Q-Space by Greg Cox

Author:Greg Cox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 1999-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

Interlude

BUG.

It was buzzing over there, just out of reach. A shiny, silver bug. He could see it now, the image refracted through the lens of the wall, deformed and distorted, true, but definitely there. Itty-bitty little bug, buzzing about on the other side, doing teeny-weeny, buggy little things.

Busy bug, he crooned. How fast can you fly? How quick can you die?

He couldn’t wait to swat it with his hungry hand. No, not swat it, he corrected himself. He’d play with it first, teach it tricks, then pull off its wings. Soon, he promised, soon to its ruin.

Then the bug wasn’t alone anymore. A wisp of smoke drifted over to where the bugs flitted. Bug and smoke, he cursed, his mood darkening. He remembered that smoke, oh yes he did, and remembering, hated. A joke on the smoke, ever so long ago. Choke on the smoke. Smoking, choking … choking the bug! Through the fractured glass of the wall, he watched as the thin, insubstantial wisp of vapor surrounded the bug. No! You can’t have it! he raved. It’s mine, mine to find, mine to grind!

Impatiently, he reached out for the bug and the smoke, unable to wait any longer, forgetting for the moment all that lay between him and his prizes. But his will collided against the perpetual presence of the wall and rebounded back in pain and fury. He drew inward on himself, nursing his injured pride, while the bug and the smoke circled each other just beyond his grasp. Not now, he recalled, not how. But when, when, WHEN … ?

He howled in frustration—and a voice answered. The same voice that had greeted his cries not very long ago. It was a small, barely audible voice, but it sounded faintly louder than it had before, like it was coming from some place not nearly so far away.

(I’m here,) the voice said, (I’m almost with you).

WHEN? he pleaded, his own voice sounding like an explosion compared to the other. WHEN?

(Soon. There are a few obstacles to overcome, but soon. I give you my word.)

What did it mean by that? The message was too vague, too indefinite, to curb his constant craving to defeat the wall. The bug and the smoke tormented him, teasing him with their pretended proximity. He needed an answer now.

Let me in, he said. Let you out. Away, away, no more decay. Let me in, again and again.

(Yes!) the voice affirmed. (I will make it happen, no matter what.)

The voice droned on, but he grew bored and stopped listening. The bug captured his attention once more, so small and fragile, but not yet undone by the suffocating smoke. Buzz, buzz, little bug, he whispered. Flitter free while you can. He assumed the shape of an immense arachnid, stretching out his will in all directions like eight clutching limbs.

A spider is coming to gobble you up….

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