Read Online A Game of Universe by Eric Nylund - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Eric Nylund
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him. Spending the last seven years in libraries didn’t help either. I was in lousy shape.
His sloshing got closer and closer.
I had to hide. And the only thing to conceal myself in was the water. To drink a drop of it however, was to endure cramps and diarrhea for days. I had to be careful. I ducked around a corner and saw what I wanted, a deep pool where the stone of the tunnel sagged. I plunged in.
The cold water was full of floating things that I didn’t care to identify. With one hand pinching my nose shut, the other sealing my mouth, I went down to the slimy bottom. Above, I felt the vibration of his boots on the stone. His steps got louder until I thought his next one would fall on my head. A pause. Then he ran, down another passage.
My breath was gone, but I waited until black dots danced inside my lids before I surfaced. Eyes still shut, I cleared my mouth of the poisonous water, spit the putrid taste out quietly, then looked.
He was there waiting for me.
I hesitated only for a second, but that was long enough for him to draw his gun. A strange sound, a polite cough, and halfway between my hip and knee, my leg exploded. I reeled from the impact and collapsed into the swampy liquid. My shattered bones ground together. Pain flooded my mind.
“Gotcha!” he cried and sloshed over to me.
I crawled to the side of the passage, half in and half out of the water, in a daze, not really certain what had happened. I knew I had to get out. The blood in the water, the lermix would smell it. They would come searching with their tentacles for breakfast. Breakfast, which meant fat sausages floating down the sewer, scrambled eggs, pancake boats, and orange juice. I drifted for a moment, not awake or asleep, in a dream state, peaceful, calm, and then the stench of reality pierced my delirium. I saw the man tinkering with a device on my leg, a box of blinking lights and small mechanical arms.
“There,” he said, “that should keep you alive while we talk.”
“What?”
“No, no.” He wagged his finger in front of me, “I’ll ask the questions. Who sent you? The Red Guard, or has Sixty-two decided to take me on again?”
“I was just here,” I whimpered. “I wasn’t sent by anyone.”
He punched my mangled leg and knives of fire flashed along every nerve. I didn’t scream though; the lermix had good ears.
“No one is just anywhere, junior. You have guts, though, I’ll give you credit. It’s not every person who’d take a dunk in this stuff. But why make your death a messy thing? I have drugs that can make it easier. Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll give you one final dream.”
The pain sharpened my mind. I was beyond fight or flight—this was when the fox chews his leg off to escape the trap—so I stared into his solid green glowing eyes and told him what he wanted to hear. “OK, it was Sixty-two. He sent me here to track you down.” I had no idea if what I said meant anything, but from the man’s reaction, the nodding of his head, I knew it did.
“And he knows about my assignment?”
“I guess so,” I said.
He frowned and thought about that for a moment. Past the dripping water, past the ringing in my ears, I heard them come, the near silent ripples, and the vile stench that always accompanied the lermix.
The man made a face at this new aroma, but dismissed it and asked, “Where is he now?”
“Not on this world. He said he was going to—”
The lermix were close. I saw their probing tentacles in the dark, reaching forward, touching, mouths opening, and leaving trails of slime. Maybe I’d get lucky and they would surprise my assailant, give me the opportunity to crawl away while they ate him.
He followed the motion of my eyes as they tracked the monsters’ approach. Turning, he didn’t even panic at the sight of the three massive worms. He carefully drew his pistol and fired. A dull thump, and one of the titanic worms thrashed about in convulsions. A second shot and it
His sloshing got closer and closer.
I had to hide. And the only thing to conceal myself in was the water. To drink a drop of it however, was to endure cramps and diarrhea for days. I had to be careful. I ducked around a corner and saw what I wanted, a deep pool where the stone of the tunnel sagged. I plunged in.
The cold water was full of floating things that I didn’t care to identify. With one hand pinching my nose shut, the other sealing my mouth, I went down to the slimy bottom. Above, I felt the vibration of his boots on the stone. His steps got louder until I thought his next one would fall on my head. A pause. Then he ran, down another passage.
My breath was gone, but I waited until black dots danced inside my lids before I surfaced. Eyes still shut, I cleared my mouth of the poisonous water, spit the putrid taste out quietly, then looked.
He was there waiting for me.
I hesitated only for a second, but that was long enough for him to draw his gun. A strange sound, a polite cough, and halfway between my hip and knee, my leg exploded. I reeled from the impact and collapsed into the swampy liquid. My shattered bones ground together. Pain flooded my mind.
“Gotcha!” he cried and sloshed over to me.
I crawled to the side of the passage, half in and half out of the water, in a daze, not really certain what had happened. I knew I had to get out. The blood in the water, the lermix would smell it. They would come searching with their tentacles for breakfast. Breakfast, which meant fat sausages floating down the sewer, scrambled eggs, pancake boats, and orange juice. I drifted for a moment, not awake or asleep, in a dream state, peaceful, calm, and then the stench of reality pierced my delirium. I saw the man tinkering with a device on my leg, a box of blinking lights and small mechanical arms.
“There,” he said, “that should keep you alive while we talk.”
“What?”
“No, no.” He wagged his finger in front of me, “I’ll ask the questions. Who sent you? The Red Guard, or has Sixty-two decided to take me on again?”
“I was just here,” I whimpered. “I wasn’t sent by anyone.”
He punched my mangled leg and knives of fire flashed along every nerve. I didn’t scream though; the lermix had good ears.
“No one is just anywhere, junior. You have guts, though, I’ll give you credit. It’s not every person who’d take a dunk in this stuff. But why make your death a messy thing? I have drugs that can make it easier. Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll give you one final dream.”
The pain sharpened my mind. I was beyond fight or flight—this was when the fox chews his leg off to escape the trap—so I stared into his solid green glowing eyes and told him what he wanted to hear. “OK, it was Sixty-two. He sent me here to track you down.” I had no idea if what I said meant anything, but from the man’s reaction, the nodding of his head, I knew it did.
“And he knows about my assignment?”
“I guess so,” I said.
He frowned and thought about that for a moment. Past the dripping water, past the ringing in my ears, I heard them come, the near silent ripples, and the vile stench that always accompanied the lermix.
The man made a face at this new aroma, but dismissed it and asked, “Where is he now?”
“Not on this world. He said he was going to—”
The lermix were close. I saw their probing tentacles in the dark, reaching forward, touching, mouths opening, and leaving trails of slime. Maybe I’d get lucky and they would surprise my assailant, give me the opportunity to crawl away while they ate him.
He followed the motion of my eyes as they tracked the monsters’ approach. Turning, he didn’t even panic at the sight of the three massive worms. He carefully drew his pistol and fired. A dull thump, and one of the titanic worms thrashed about in convulsions. A second shot and it
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