This side of Infinity (ssc) by Terry Carr (ed.)

Author:Terry Carr (ed.) [Carr, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci-Fi Anthology
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 1972-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

The ventilator had already pulled half the gas out of Beatrice Rice’s room. Fracarro pulled the pin on another gas bomb and Edelman pulled back a sliding panel in the middle of the floor and lowered, an emergency ladder that had been folded into a storage space between the floors. They bumped their heads together as they bent over the hole and the intercom speaker mounted over the elevator picked up a giggle.

Fracarro straightened up. She pointed imperiously and Edelman bent over and examined the small area he could see. The lights had all been turned out and now that the sun had almost set most of the room was in shadow.

He dropped a bomb through the hole and started down the ladder with his gun drawn. As his head disappeared below the floor level, Fracarro dropped to one knee.

An immense hand struck his entire body. Fingers pulled on his stomach and his lungs. The blood drained out of his blood cells. His legs buckled and his fingers slipped off the ladder.

He hit the floor with a bone-bruising thud. His stomach turned over as the gravity dropped back to normal. He raised his head and stared around the room with eyes that seemed to be covered with a red mist.

“I warned you,” Tim Rice yelled. “Get out of here or “I’ll give you another dose.”

Edelman groaned. His body hurt from the tail bone up. His head ached and he felt nauseated, but he could still think well enough to remember he had to act as if he hurt worse than he did. “You crazy lad. You can kill somebody doing that.”

“I told you we weren’t playing games,” the loudspeaker boomed. “We’re gonna get a fair deal if we have to crush every stupid cop on the east coast. Get back up that ladder. Move.”

Edelman forced himself up. He held on to the ladder with one hand. He was obviously in the family exercise room. Fencing foils, jump ropes, and Indian clubs hung on the walls and die control panel for the gravity changer had been set in the wall next to the elevator.

Alternatives slid across his mind. If he had the power company cut the power off, it probably wouldn’t affect whatever other weapons the kids had and it might set off a panic and put the hostages in worse trouble than they were in already. He wouldn’t be able to use the elevator, either, and if he got his hands on the hostages, he might want to get upstairs without phoning the power company.

Most devices had automatic cutoffs on them, however, especially devices that used up as much energy as gravity changers. Few parents were stupid enough to let their children run up huge debts to the power company. And the files he had examined in the car had indicated the Rice family had used up most of its power budget for the month. Another jolt like that and the unit would probably lock itself up.

He glanced up the ladder.

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