Read Online The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell by Harry Harrison - Free Book Online
Authors: Harry Harrison
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very painfully. Waves of red agony that ran through my reviving body that threatened to block my vision. My eyes were watering, tears ran down my cheeks as I writhed in agony. Slowly, very slowly it died away and I managed to roll over.
Blinking away the tears to stare up at a gray rock ceiling above. There was a low moan and with a great deal of effort I
turned my head to see that Sybil was lying on the ground next to me. Her eyes were closed and her body twisted with pain as she moaned again. I knew what she was experiencing. Slowly and exhaustingly, with a great deal of grunting and gasping, I crawled to her, took her hand.
âThe pain,â I managed to say, âit goes away.â I.
âJim â¦â Whispered so quietly I could barely hear it.
âNone other. Youâre going to be all right.â
This was a pretty pathetic reassurance but was about all that I could think of at the moment. Where were we? What had happened? If this was Heaven it was pretty different from the place that she had described. Sharp volcanic gravel instead of grass; rock instead of sky. Where was the light coming from? And what was the last thing that Slakey had said? Something about not quite being Heaven.
With some effort I managed to sit up and saw the opening in the rock wall: we were in a cleft or a cave of some sort. And beyond the opening was a red sky.
Red? There was a distant deep rumble and I felt the ground beneath me tremble; a cloud of dark smoke roiled across the sky. Clutching to the rock wall I managed to drag myself to my feet and stumble over to Sybil. I helped her sit up with her back to the wall.
She tried to speak, starting coughing instead. Finally squeezed out the words. âSlakeyâhe was one step ahead of us all the time.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âHe was playing with us, and must have known that you were in the building. He cut his sermon short, made some kind of excuse about an unexpected meeting, turned the organ on instead, along with a recording of everyone singing. Asked us all to leave. Everyone except me. He took me aside, said that he had something most important to tell me. I was curious of course, besides the fact that I couldnât think of anything else to do except do as he had asked. Then, as soon as the others were gone, he pointed something at me. I had only the quickest look at something like a silver spiderweb, before I fell down. It was horrible!
I couldnât move a muscle, not even my eyes. I was aware of him dragging me into that back room in the darknessâand the worst part was that there wasnât a thing I could do about it. I couldnât move, do anything at all, couldnât warn you that was the worst part. Then the lights were on, and you were there, falling. I remember him talking to you. After thatânothing.
âThatâs about all that I can rememberâuntil I opened my eyes here.â
I patted my side pocket, felt the lump of the communicator, felt a slight touch of hope at the same time. I put it to my ear, turned it on. Nothing. The same went for every other device on my person. All dead. Batteries and power packs drained. I couldnât even open the blade on my Schweitzy Army Knife; it seemed to be welded into a lump. I looked at the small pile of metallic debris and felt the urge to kick it across the cave. I gave in to the urge and did just that. It clattered nicely.
âJust junk now. All dead. Nothing works.â I turned and stumbled towards the light.
âJim, donât leave â¦â
âIâm not going far. I just want to look out, satisfy my curiosity, find out where we are.â
Leaning one hand against the rock so I wouldnât trip, I took step after shuffling step until I was at the entrance and staring out. I felt my jaw fall open with shock as I dropped to my knees. For long moments I could only stare. With an effort I turned away, managed to stand again and went back to
Blinking away the tears to stare up at a gray rock ceiling above. There was a low moan and with a great deal of effort I
turned my head to see that Sybil was lying on the ground next to me. Her eyes were closed and her body twisted with pain as she moaned again. I knew what she was experiencing. Slowly and exhaustingly, with a great deal of grunting and gasping, I crawled to her, took her hand.
âThe pain,â I managed to say, âit goes away.â I.
âJim â¦â Whispered so quietly I could barely hear it.
âNone other. Youâre going to be all right.â
This was a pretty pathetic reassurance but was about all that I could think of at the moment. Where were we? What had happened? If this was Heaven it was pretty different from the place that she had described. Sharp volcanic gravel instead of grass; rock instead of sky. Where was the light coming from? And what was the last thing that Slakey had said? Something about not quite being Heaven.
With some effort I managed to sit up and saw the opening in the rock wall: we were in a cleft or a cave of some sort. And beyond the opening was a red sky.
Red? There was a distant deep rumble and I felt the ground beneath me tremble; a cloud of dark smoke roiled across the sky. Clutching to the rock wall I managed to drag myself to my feet and stumble over to Sybil. I helped her sit up with her back to the wall.
She tried to speak, starting coughing instead. Finally squeezed out the words. âSlakeyâhe was one step ahead of us all the time.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âHe was playing with us, and must have known that you were in the building. He cut his sermon short, made some kind of excuse about an unexpected meeting, turned the organ on instead, along with a recording of everyone singing. Asked us all to leave. Everyone except me. He took me aside, said that he had something most important to tell me. I was curious of course, besides the fact that I couldnât think of anything else to do except do as he had asked. Then, as soon as the others were gone, he pointed something at me. I had only the quickest look at something like a silver spiderweb, before I fell down. It was horrible!
I couldnât move a muscle, not even my eyes. I was aware of him dragging me into that back room in the darknessâand the worst part was that there wasnât a thing I could do about it. I couldnât move, do anything at all, couldnât warn you that was the worst part. Then the lights were on, and you were there, falling. I remember him talking to you. After thatânothing.
âThatâs about all that I can rememberâuntil I opened my eyes here.â
I patted my side pocket, felt the lump of the communicator, felt a slight touch of hope at the same time. I put it to my ear, turned it on. Nothing. The same went for every other device on my person. All dead. Batteries and power packs drained. I couldnât even open the blade on my Schweitzy Army Knife; it seemed to be welded into a lump. I looked at the small pile of metallic debris and felt the urge to kick it across the cave. I gave in to the urge and did just that. It clattered nicely.
âJust junk now. All dead. Nothing works.â I turned and stumbled towards the light.
âJim, donât leave â¦â
âIâm not going far. I just want to look out, satisfy my curiosity, find out where we are.â
Leaning one hand against the rock so I wouldnât trip, I took step after shuffling step until I was at the entrance and staring out. I felt my jaw fall open with shock as I dropped to my knees. For long moments I could only stare. With an effort I turned away, managed to stand again and went back to
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