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“I’m going to see if the Screamer can jam whatever is jamming us.”

Another burst of white-hot noise cascaded through the room, and Cidra groaned under the weight of it. The force of it drove her to her knees, and she was aware of Severance hunched down beside her. She sensed that he had the small Screamer remote in his hand. He leaned against her, assuring that their bodies were touching, and activated the remote.Advertisement

The riot of sensation altered suddenly. For a few seconds everything disappeared—the noise, the light, the physical sensations, even the chamber itself. Cidra found herself in a gray limbo. She drifted mindlessly in the wonderful silence, drinking in the pain-free void, and then it was over.

A new kind of whirling terror shot through her. This time she recognized it. This was what the Screamer had done to her on board Severance Pay. She clamped her hands over her ears in agony, and then chaos faded back into grayness again.

There were a few seconds of peace before the white light and noise started to build again.

“We’ll have to move during the short periods when the Screamer wipes out the other stuff,” Severance said tensely. “I can only buy us a few seconds at a time. If I keep it up too long, the Screamer goes into effect.”

“I understand. The wall?”

There was a burst of blinding noise as the seconds of gray-ness faded back into violent sensation. She waited agonizingly for the next burst of grayness.

“The wall,” Severance agreed. He was already up and moving, keeping a hold on Cidra so that the Screamer’s effects worked on both of them.

It was a painful tightrope of a journey. Between bursts of staggering sensation Cidra and Severance found the curving wall and doggedly followed it to the entrance of the chamber. Cidra lost all track of time, just as she had when the murals had been in motion. But when she tumbled through the vaulted opening, all of the mind-numbing noise and light disappeared. The relief was awesome. Almost frightening.

She lay on the soft, green velvet ground cover of the protected circle and tried to regain her breath. Severance sank down beside her and dropped the Screamer back into the utility loop. They huddled together, knees drawn up, heads cradled on folded arms, and waited to regain some sense of normality. For long moments neither of them spoke. They stayed close, seeking silent comfort from each other while their nerves adjusted to the standard range of stimulation on Renaissance. “I never thought Renaissance would look ‘normal,’” Cidra finally said.

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“After what’s inside that chamber, anything would seem normal. At least we’re not suffering too many aftereffects. It could have knocked us out the way the Screamer usually does when it’s used for more than a few seconds.”

“Mostly I just feel exhausted, as if I’ve been running for hours.”

Severance glanced at the sky and then at his chronometer. “We’ve lost more time. We’ve spent nearly a whole day in that damned place.”

“I’m aware of that. My body is starting to remind me that the facilities don’t include a lav.” Wearily Cidra got to her feet. “I’ll politely turn my back if you’ll turn yours.”

Severance managed a brief, amused grin. “It’s a deal.”

“I hope the Ghosts don’t mind us using their magic circle as a lav.”

“As far as I’m concerned, they deserve it.” Severance turned his back to her.

Cidra felt on the defensive again. “I can’t believe the Ghosts were responsible for all those awful illusions and that wall of noise and light.”

“Any other bright suggestions?”

“No,” Cidra admitted. “It just doesn’t fit, that’s all. By the time they built this place they were a peaceful, gentle people. It doesn’t seem in their nature to build such traps.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know about their nature, Cidra, and don’t forget it.” Severance turned around. “Ready?”

She nodded. “Uh, I’ve just thought of something.”

“What?” He was checking the pulser.

“A minor point. Do you know how to find our way back?”

“You should have worried about that last night when you went for your joy walk.” Then he saw the look on her face. “Stop worrying, I can find the way back.” He pulled a small instrument out of his loop. “We didn’t come that far according to this.”

“What’s that?”

“A directional system. Everyone who works on Renaissance carries one. It’ll home in on deflector screens, a skimmer’s comm unit, or anything else that puts out a man-made signal.” He walked to the edge of the protected area and peered ahead. Then he glanced at the small instrument in his hand. “Okay, let’s try this one more time, shall we? Remember what I said. Stick close and don’t touch anything.”

They got no more than two meters outside the Ghosts’ serene, sheltered circle before the lockmouth attacked.

Chapter Fourteen

If he’d ever been given a written guarantee that the universe played fair, Severance would have sued now. It was all too much. He was too exhausted, too slow, and too anxious to get back to the safety of the deflectors. And the lockmouth was too hungry and too fast.

The clawed feet ripped downward as the scaled head that was twice as large as a man’s opened its cavernous mouth. A reserve of sheer, blind instinct, not nimble, clever resourcefulness, threw Severance backward at the last possible instant. The claws, each as long as his fingers, slashed across his chest and shoulder instead of his throat.

He heard Cidra shout something as she struggled to pull him out of the way. He thought about telling her that it was too late to run. But there wasn’t time to explain just bow fast and vindictive a cheated lockmouth could be. Severance shoved at her, sending her sprawling.

The long, evilly shaped creature with the oversized head was already plunging down out of the nest of vines where it had been waiting for unwary prey. The mouth opened wide. Lockmouths could swallow a human being whole. They did it slowly. Once the locking mechanisms in the powerful jaws were closed, the only way to free whatever was trapped inside was to cut off the huge head. By then, there wasn’t much point. The lockmouth crouched briefly, preparing the final spring. This time it wouldn’t miss. Severance decided he’d better not miss, either. On Renaissance there were very few second chances, and he’d already used up his quota for a year. He was sorely tempted to fire the pulser straight into the creature’s gaping mouth but resisted and aimed for the eyes. Behind them resided whatever the creature had that passed for a brain. pqdm.com