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The security designers were good, but not quite good enough I nal that zipped over to the door to tell it to lock down and sound the alary into the all-clear electronic pulse

The door popped open, and I stepped into a sterile little anteroo systeear was neatly stored, and I put on a suit,in than for what it would offer me Second door, sae, colorful map indicated that I was in a blue section

Blue section was the least dangerous, I gathered

There were a feorkers in this part of the plant, but a confident walk, a wave, and a badge see much at the moment; operations were at an idle, and boredom had set in I followed the color-coded maps to the elevators at the far end More biometrics, which was a pain in the ass; I hoped they hadn’t security-locked the bathrooms, too

Finally, after the third biometric I had to destroy, I decided to take an end run around the problem Fire codes said that all security doors had to open in the event of a fire e one; I didn’t want to bake anybody, or even give them smoke inhalation, but I pulled some jittery power from the electronics and built myself an impressive-sized fire in a nest of empty boxes in a storeroom Fire suppression kicked in, but with a little concentration, I was able to keep the fire blazing despite the countermeasures

Thirty seconds later, the bio FIRE EMERGENCY, and I heard the clicks as secured doors began to unlock The elevators stopped working, but I could get around that; it was a sio all the way to the bottom anyway

I stepped inside just as three people in protective gear--one with an auto over it--entered the corridor and looked straight at un and keep the fire going at the saot off five shots, aiht for my chest

Chapter Nine

I don’t re shut the elevator door, cutting the cables, overriding the friction brakes, and letting the car drop in a free fall At first I felt sick and dizzy, and figured that was an effect of the falling, but then I smelled blood I looked down and sao separate wounds inmy protective white suit I unzipped it and stepped out There wasn’t any pain yet, or a lot of bleeding, though red rings were steadily for on my lab coat around the bullet holes

"Fantastic," I said "That’s just great"

Gravity was definitely a harsh mistress, and neverhow far I’d fallen, howto do co seriously terunexpectedly from the speaker in the elevator I jerked, and an an insidious drumbeat in my side, dammit, too soon

I pushed it, and David, aside and concentrated harder I eating now Shaking And there was a growing pool of blood for around my shoes, how had that happened?

Didn’t seeht

I dropped to my knees, then pitched forward flat on my stomach I screamed at the impact, because damn that hurt, but it was important to try to distribute impact force over as wide an area as possible

I reached out for power in the air arounda thick, cold cushion of air beneath the falling elevator I increased its density, and felt a significant decrease in the speed at which I was falling

But I was still falling

David was saying so, but I couldn’t pay attention, not any, and I needed it now

I couldn’t get it When I reached out for power, it slid through rasp like oil I felt weak, clu in a pool of blood

David was al at me now I couldn’t spare a second of concentration; I had todown, try toout of elevator shaft

I threw one last, ulti stop

The button dinged, and the doors opened

For soet to my feet Maybe because the blood was slippery I was a mess, and I needed a bath, a nice warood

But I forcedmyself with both bloody hands on the doors of the elevator My vision was spotty, with circles of darkness sing the glare of white lights Everything see except me

Walk, I told myself sternly You have to do this Now

Because deep down inside, I knew that I wasn’t going to have the strength to wait and do it in a more orderly fashion

I didn’t make it very far, but then I didn’t have to--this whole area was hot and live with the kind of thing I needed This was a storage area, deep underground, and the doors were massive affairs on hydraulics There were six doors I fell at the first one, flailed around on the floor for a while, and left a hell of a bloody et up The control pad ay the hell up there That see Why didn’t they build them closer to the floor, for convenience?

Oh, the hell with subtlety

I blew the door off its hinges in a massive burst of superheated air It flew over h to be felt in Switzerland, and embedded itself in the concrete to a depth of at least a foot

Inside that storage locker, about the size of a medium-sized residential home, were stacked row upon row of containersstickers All very neat and orderly The aetheric here seethed black, and my own distress didn’t help ered a reaction

It wasn’t really all that hard; destruction never is All I had to do was put soy, stir to a rolling boil

I didn’t have enough left in --not that I thought it would have worked in any case I hoped that the evacuation had worked I hoped that Dr Reid and his people were safely outside the facility

Right now, though, that was a veryup, and ht was of David How much I wished I could die in his arms, if I couldn’t live in theh the hallways a second before the brilliant flash of light, and then it took all the power I had left to hold the explosion in, point it down, driving it like a spike deep into the skin of the Mother

Then there was justlight

And dark