Read Online The Machinery of Light by David J. Williams - Free Book Online

from out of the blackness. A voice sounds in her ear.
    “Claire.”
    “Fuck you.”
    “You’ve got to wake up.”
    “Fuck
you,”
she repeats.
    “Fuck
this,”
says the voice—and then it’s fire flashing through her, causing her heart to kick into overdrive, and she comes awake in a single instant. She gasps in pain, opens her eyes—finds herself staring into the eyes of Strom Carson.
    “Shit,” she says.
    Blood’s everywhere. So are shattered suits. What’s left of Colonel Tsien’s seems to have been mashed against the wall.
    “You killed them all,” she mutters.
    “No one fucks with you and gets away with it.”
    “Except for you.”
    “You’ll see the light soon enough.”
    L ynx steps it up, making the zone think they’re something they’re not, making the sentinels past whom they’re creeping think they’re having just another boring moment. The two men slide on through the makeshift perimeter that’s been thrown up around this portion of the
Montana’s
docks. They’re starting to pick up a lot of static.
    “Jamming,” says Linehan.
    “Not exactly,” says Lynx.
    They crawl between steel girders, emerging onto the ceiling of one of the medium-sized hangars. Two corvettes dominate the floor. They look like they’re in the final stages of boarding. SpaceCom marines are positioned at the hangar’s interior doorways. The larger exterior door is shut.
    “Looks like we’re on time,” says Linehan.
    “Just barely,” replies Lynx.
    According to his calculations, pushback’s only a few minutes away. He starts leading Linehan along the latticed ceiling, toward the
Montana’s
hull. They climb up another level and find themselves in a crawlspace. Unearthly light shimmers from some opening up ahead.
    “I don’t like the looks of this,” says Linehan.
    “Set your visor for maximum shielding.”
    The two men creep to the opening, peer out. The fleet beyond is visible—along with so much else.
    “Oh my fucking God,” says Linehan.
    “God’s dead,” says Lynx. “And that’s the fucking proof.”
    T he railcar’s accelerating once again, down tunnels whose incline has steepened noticeably. Lights flash past, playing upon the faces of the men within the car.
    “What’d you say to that guy?” asks the driver.
    “What needed to be said,” says the man.
    “Which was?”
    “We’re about to reach the end of maglev.”
    Not an answer, just more instructions. It’s what the crew needs. They work the controls, seamlessly transitioning the train as maglev gives out and wheels extend. The train rolls on into the darkness of the tunnels beneath the Himalayas. Only about a fifth of the Eurasian rail fleet is capable of traveling on legacy track. That’s one of the reasons the man chose this train. As for the others—
    “Are you hunting traitors?” asks the engineer.
    The major laughs. “What would give you that idea?”
    “You’re some kind of top-secret agent, right?”
    “I am?”
    “I saw the way that guy looked at you. You’re trying to move so that you’re invisible, and this is a black base and—”
    “Will you
shut up?”
snarls the driver.
    “What’s your problem—”
    “Now he’s going to have to kill us—”
    “He already knows we know more than we should!”
    “Both of you relax,” says the man. “You’re loyal servants of Eurasia. That’s all that matters.”
    The downward grade steepens even further. Now that they’ve gone beyond maglev, the engineer’s having to apply the brakes. The train sways from side to side, rattles slightly. Up ahead a pinprick of light is visible. The man seems to relax slightly.
    “What the hell is that?” asks the driver.
    The man just holds a finger to his lips. The light keeps on growing closer. The engineer crosses himself.
    “You’re taking us to Hades,” whispers the engineer.
    The man shrugs. The train rushes out into an impossibly mammoth cavern—rumbles out over a bridge that spans that cavern, moving in toward