[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

ild.html (35 of 340)17-2-2006 3:20:55
Axler,_James_-_Deathlands_56_-_Sunchild and hold them all up. Without a recce
of the shaft ahead, there was no way of knowing if a sudden noise would set
off a collapse of some kind. So they had all kept quiet. But the risk of
startled exclamations and shouts when the flare went off was a greater risk
than Ryan's hoarse cry.
"You okay, lover?" Krysty whispered.
Ryan nodded, forgetting the dark. "Just about. But we need to see what's
ahead."
He took the flare from the canvas bag that was slung on the opposite side to
Page 17
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
his
Steyr. The flare spluttered twice, small sparks illuminating Ryan's concerned,
concentrated visage, before seeming to die off. Then, when he was almost at
the point of giving up, it suddenly hissed and sputtered into life, throwing a
phosphorus glare around the shaft.
Looking back over his shoulder, Ryan could see his companions in a line behind
him, all adjusting their eyes to the sudden light. He could also see the way
in which the shaft was constructed. Reinforced-concrete beams supported the
roof and lined the walls at regular intervals. Also regular, but falling in
between the beams, was a series of graduated steps, each forming a platform of
about twenty-
five feet in length, some of which were irregularly raised.
"Most ingenious," Doc murmured on observing this, taking the brief opportunity
to halt for a moment's rest. "Not steps, but neither a ramp. The slightest
movement of the earth will merely alter the one platform, rather than stress
and crack a complete ramp or break a fixed staircase."
Ryan looked at his wrist chron. They had been progressing up for nearly an
hour.
The incline was gradual, and the shaft had a slight bend to it. Looking ahead,
he
file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2056%20-%20Sunch
ild.html (36 of 340)17-2-2006 3:20:55
Axler,_James_-_Deathlands_56_-_Sunchild could see that the platforms were a
little more uneven, suggesting earth disturbance. But all the columns appeared
to be intact. He noted that the width of the tunnel was less than he had
supposed, and it would have been possible for him to stand in the middle with
both arms extended to touch the sides.
From the elapsed time and the gradation of the tunnel, he suspected that they
still had a long way to go.
"Okay, now we know where we're going," he said, almost to himself. "Let's go."
A flare would last twenty minutes, the last five showing a fading light, so
Ryan knew that they had been walking for over fifteen minutes when they came
to a sharp corner, the first they had encountered.
But even by the fading light he could see that it wasn't a constructed corner.
The earth had savagely taken the shaft and bent it to its own will.
"Problems," he said over his shoulder, trying to make his voice carry without
raising it. "We've got an earth move."
As he said it, he was aware of the platform beneath his feet moving. It was a
slight movement, but growing with every second. The concrete platform was
tilting on loosened earth, the angle of tilt increasing the momentum in a
dangerous equation.
"Fireblast!" he yelled, the flare falling from his grip as he slid on the
platform, a thin coating of moss from the seepage of damp earth causing his
heavy combat boots to lose their firm hold as the angle increased.
file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2056%20-%20Sunch
ild.html (37 of 340)17-2-2006 3:20:55
Axler,_James_-_Deathlands_56_-_Sunchild
Ryan tilted his muscular frame to the bend of the earth, not fighting the
momentum but rolling with it, using it to adjust his own equilibrium. As the
shaft tilted and rolled in his vision, he saw that the others were also
encountering similar problems. Krysty had been slammed into the wall of the
shaft, and was fighting to regain both footing and the breath that had been
driven from her body. Behind her, Jak was down, but already springing to his
feet. Doc was down, and beyond him there was darkness, filled with the rumble
of moving earth and the crunch and whine of breaking concrete and twisting
metal as the support rods in the columns bent beneath the pressure of the
Page 18
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
moving rock and earth.
And then, as suddenly as it had started, it ceased. Ryan stood silent and
still, straining every nerve to detect any further movement. By the fading
light, he could see Krysty, propped against the near wall of the shaft.
She caught his glance and briefly shook her head. With her razor-sharp mutie
sense, she was the likeliest to detect any further danger in the depths of the
earth. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]