Read Online Beastchild by Dean Koontz - Free Book Online Page B

atomic sort, down until it hits bedrock which it is not equipped to devour, and onward until it reaches water or some other 'indigestible' barrier."
        "And the green light is the only result?" Leo asked, stepping back as the edge of the pit came almost imperceptibly closer.
        "No. The green light energy is what we can see. Above your range of audio reception-even above mine -there is a great deal of sound energy generated. Also, there is an enormous amount of energy consumed by the bacteria themselves to enable them to continue their conversions and to reproduce at the rate the lab men set for them."
        "And it'll go on until there's nothing left?"
        "No. We don't want to destroy a world. Within a few days, a special naoli team will arrive to begin antibacterial work to halt the progress of the crater and destroy the mites."
        "But the air will carry them," Leo protested.
        "No. Such catastrophes have been guarded against. The bacteria are designed to anchor themselves to whatever elemental molecules they are bred to attack. Thus, a wind would have to blow away the entire linkage of ferrous trace elements in an area to also spread the iron-eating bacteria. And if a bacteria cannot find, within moments, any of its particular 'tropic' substance to latch on to, it dies. There are all sorts of built-in protections."
        "Why not a series of nuclears to wipe out the Lake complex?"
        Hulann shook his head. "Nuclears cannot damage well-shielded underground establishments. The bacteria can-by dissolving the earth that covers them, then converting the very structural materials of the installations."
        They watched the pit, the shimmering, glimmering flames. Faint heat waves rolled over them and kept the snow melted around the perimeter of the hole. If they strained their ears, they could hear the sound of the energy of conversion being released far up the scale of vibrations.
        "We didn't really have a chance against you," Leo said at last.
        Green erupted, staining their faces.
        "No," Hulann agreed.
        Leo went back to the car. Hulann followed.
        "Will it still fly?" Leo asked.
        Hulann bent and inspected the bottom of the craft. There was almost nothing remaining of the heavy rubber cushion rim. The metal frame was bent and ripped, but not so severely that it would push in against the blades in the recessed undercarriage. If there still were any blades under there. He looked back on the snowy highway but could not see any large dark objects that might be shafts or rotars.
        "Let's see," he said.
        The engine coughed, but turned over. They rose on the wind of the blades, though there was a steady vibration that gently rattled the frame. "Well, it runs," Hulann said. "But where do we go from here? The road ends, as you see."
        "Over the median," Leo said. "On back to the next exit. We'll just have to take secondary roads until we're past the crater and can get back on the good beater surface of the throughway."
        Hulann took the shuttlecraft over the concrete bump in the center of the highway, wheeled the craft around and started back, looking for a way off the useless expressway-a way that would take them west where they wished to go.
        The Hunter will soon be awakened.
        The Hunter will rise up in his glory and take upon him the robes of his power.
        The Hunter will seek.
        Before, there has always been success.
        The Hunter was born to hunt, as his prey was born to be brought down at his desire…
        They made much poorer time on the secondary roads than they had on the highways where the beater surface was solid and flat. Here, the pavement had been originally designed for wheeled vehicles, which made it far too uneven and twisted to offer much to a shuttlecraft. Besides, they were moving into the mountains near' the end of the Pennsylvania line where the weather,