Read Online The Escape by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
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a plain door labeled NO AD-MMRAWEvery and keyed a code into the panel. Then he put his hand on a plate and a small light flashed orange. Drickel moved forward and repeated the procedure. As the light flashed again, the door opened and the two men moved inside. In front of them stretched a long stone hallway with no decoration. The air here had a processed chill. Drickel shuddered as he always did when he stepped into the Back Room.
"You been up-Period at all?" he asked as they headed down the hall. Red nodded. "Just once, right after the Second Exodus. I have nightmares about the emptiness." Drickel nodded. "I'm jumping about fifty thousand years after that. I've been there a few times.
Most everything is totally gone except for the old ships. PlanetHoppers mess with those ships.
I'm getting real' tired of that." "Anyone living there at all?" Red asked.
"No," Drickel said as they reached the end of the tunnel and another thick door opened. "Too damn cold and dry. The entire planet is deserted during that time." "Amazing," Red said.
"Not really. Everyone left during the Second Exodus and they shut down all of the Period shuttles." Drickel glanced at Red.
He'd seen Red's reaction before, had had the same reaction himself. The only differetice was that Drickel had had a lot of empty Real Time to think about the choices. "I mean, Red, think about it," Drickel said. "Now we can live anywhere in time and some Periods are too damn crowded. But if we could live in that same Period without people, most of us would. The dimensional shifts must have seemed like a miracle when they were discovered. Over two and a half million choices of an uninhabited planet per Period. If you had that kind of choice, wouldn't you go and live in a dimension that was not crowded? Or maybe totally empty? Imagine having an entire planet to yourself" "My mind can't grasp other dimensions, let alone two and a half million of them," Red said. "I keep thinking, what if one of my kids made a dimension shift without telling me?
How would I ever find him?" "Control would," Drickel said, although he wasn't so certain.
"That's what we're here for." "Good point," Red said. But Drickel could tell that Red didn't believe it any more than he did.
The operator on duty was a woman who had sensibly abandoned her high button collars and tight sleeves. She still wore tied leggings, but on her small feet the pointed platforms looked stunning. She 76 smiled at Drickel when he introduced himself.
Her name was Noughi, and if he hadn't been responding to an Alarm, he might have spent a few precious Real Time minutes getting to know her.
She worked alone in a small, stone-walled room that smelled of high-density sugar water. A single drooping fem covered half of her desk. Behind her, a large Control station filled one wall, and the other wall was filled with a small sledlike device with a padded bench seat in it. A personal time-jump shuttle.
"I got another reading just before you arrived," Noughi said. "On this station. But it's a bit of a distance from the time-jump point." Drickel nodded.
Those PlanetHoppers were really eager. Sometimes there would be several trigger events after the first Alarm.
"How late will I be in Real Time?" "The time-jump point is an hour after the first alarm. I tried to get dispensation to send you in earlier, but Control says no to that for some reason." Always regulations to worry about. And other things.
"Is the underground shuttle still being maintained in that time?" he asked. Noughi shook her head. "Not a chance. But the tunnels are mostly still open. You got a personal transporter in case of a cave-in?" Drickel tapped his belt and held up his bag. "Got all my standard tricks." "Sounds like you're in for a hike," Red said.
"Makes me earn my pay." Drickel turned back to Noughi. "What's the source of the interference?" "We're not sure," she said, "but we think there's
Vacuum Ship in orbit over this station at the point you are
"You been up-Period at all?" he asked as they headed down the hall. Red nodded. "Just once, right after the Second Exodus. I have nightmares about the emptiness." Drickel nodded. "I'm jumping about fifty thousand years after that. I've been there a few times.
Most everything is totally gone except for the old ships. PlanetHoppers mess with those ships.
I'm getting real' tired of that." "Anyone living there at all?" Red asked.
"No," Drickel said as they reached the end of the tunnel and another thick door opened. "Too damn cold and dry. The entire planet is deserted during that time." "Amazing," Red said.
"Not really. Everyone left during the Second Exodus and they shut down all of the Period shuttles." Drickel glanced at Red.
He'd seen Red's reaction before, had had the same reaction himself. The only differetice was that Drickel had had a lot of empty Real Time to think about the choices. "I mean, Red, think about it," Drickel said. "Now we can live anywhere in time and some Periods are too damn crowded. But if we could live in that same Period without people, most of us would. The dimensional shifts must have seemed like a miracle when they were discovered. Over two and a half million choices of an uninhabited planet per Period. If you had that kind of choice, wouldn't you go and live in a dimension that was not crowded? Or maybe totally empty? Imagine having an entire planet to yourself" "My mind can't grasp other dimensions, let alone two and a half million of them," Red said. "I keep thinking, what if one of my kids made a dimension shift without telling me?
How would I ever find him?" "Control would," Drickel said, although he wasn't so certain.
"That's what we're here for." "Good point," Red said. But Drickel could tell that Red didn't believe it any more than he did.
The operator on duty was a woman who had sensibly abandoned her high button collars and tight sleeves. She still wore tied leggings, but on her small feet the pointed platforms looked stunning. She 76 smiled at Drickel when he introduced himself.
Her name was Noughi, and if he hadn't been responding to an Alarm, he might have spent a few precious Real Time minutes getting to know her.
She worked alone in a small, stone-walled room that smelled of high-density sugar water. A single drooping fem covered half of her desk. Behind her, a large Control station filled one wall, and the other wall was filled with a small sledlike device with a padded bench seat in it. A personal time-jump shuttle.
"I got another reading just before you arrived," Noughi said. "On this station. But it's a bit of a distance from the time-jump point." Drickel nodded.
Those PlanetHoppers were really eager. Sometimes there would be several trigger events after the first Alarm.
"How late will I be in Real Time?" "The time-jump point is an hour after the first alarm. I tried to get dispensation to send you in earlier, but Control says no to that for some reason." Always regulations to worry about. And other things.
"Is the underground shuttle still being maintained in that time?" he asked. Noughi shook her head. "Not a chance. But the tunnels are mostly still open. You got a personal transporter in case of a cave-in?" Drickel tapped his belt and held up his bag. "Got all my standard tricks." "Sounds like you're in for a hike," Red said.
"Makes me earn my pay." Drickel turned back to Noughi. "What's the source of the interference?" "We're not sure," she said, "but we think there's
Vacuum Ship in orbit over this station at the point you are
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