lasers. Yalson, you head back to where we split up and tell me when you get there. We’ll
see who comes up with something useful first."
“Fucking marvelous," Lamm said, stamping off into the mist. Horza followed, wishing the ill-fitting suit didn’t rub so much.
The two men walked on. Lamm stopped to investigate some state rooms which had already been looted. Fine materials snagged
on
broken glass floated like the cloud around them. In one apartment they saw rich wooden furniture, a holosphere lying broken
in a corner and a
glass-sided water tank the size of a room, full of rotting, brilliantly colored fish and fine clothes, floating
together on the surface like exotic
weeds.
Over their communicators Horza and Lamm heard the others in Kraiklyn’s group find what they thought was a door leading to
the gallery
where—they hoped—they would find lasers behind the transparent bubbles they had seen earlier. Horza told Lamm
they had best not waste
their time, and so they left the state rooms and went back out onto the deck to continue heading forward.
“Hey, Horza," Kraiklyn said, as the Changer and Lamm walked along the deck and into a long tunnel lit by dim sunlight coming
through mist
and opaque ceiling panels. “This needle radar’s not working properly."
Horza answered as they walked. “What’s wrong."
“It isn’t going through cloud, that’s what’s wrong."
“I never really got a chance to… What do you mean." Horza stopped in the corridor. He felt something wrong in his guts. Lamm
kept
walking, away from him, down the corridor.
“It’s giving me a reading off that big cloud in front, right the way along and about half a K up." Kraiklyn laughed. “It isn’t
the Edgewall, that’s
for sure, and I can
see
that’s a cloud, and it’s closer than the needle says it is."
“Where are you now." Dorolow broke in. “Did you find any lasers. What about that door."
“No, just a sort of sun lounge or something," Kraiklyn said. “Kraiklyn!" Horza shouted. “Are you sure about that reading."
“I’m sure. The needle says—"
“Sure isn’t much fucking sun to lounge—" somebody broke in, though it sounded as if it was accidental and they didn’t know
their transmit
was on. Horza felt sweat start out on his brow. Something was wrong.
“Lamm!" he shouted. Lamm, thirty meters away down the corridor, turned as he walked and looked back. “Come back!" Horza shouted.
Lamm stopped.
“Horza, there can’t be anything—"
“Kraiklyn!" This time it was Mipp’s voice, calling from the shuttle. “There was somebody else here. I just saw another craft
take off
somewhere behind where we landed; they’ve gone now."
“OK, thanks, Mipp," Kraiklyn said, his voice calm. “Listen, Horza, from what I can see from here, the bows where you are have
just gone into
the cloud, so it is a cloud…. Shit, we can all see it’s a goddamn cloud. Don’t—"
The ship shuddered under Horza’s feet. He rocked. Lamm looked at him, puzzled. “Did you feel that." Horza shouted.
“Feel what." Kraiklyn said.
“Kraiklyn." It was Mipp again. “I can see something…."
“Lamm, get back here!" Horza shouted, through the air and into his helmet mike together. Lamm looked around him. Horza thought
he could
feel a continuing tremor in the deck below.
“What did you feel." Kraiklyn said. He was starting to get annoyed.
Yalson chipped in, “I thought I felt something. Nothing much. But listen, these things aren’t supposed to… they aren’t supposed
to—"
“Kraiklyn," Mipp said more urgently, “I think I can see—"
“Lamm!" Horza was backing off now, back down the long tunnel of corridor. Lamm stayed where he was, looking hesitant.
Horza could hear something, a curious growling noise; it reminded him of a jet engine or a fusion motor heard from a very
long distance
away, but it wasn’t either. He could feel something under his feet, too—that tremor, and there was some sort
of pull, a tug that seemed to be
dragging him forward, toward Lamm, toward the bows, as though he was in a weak field, or—
“Kraiklyn!" Mipp yelled. “I can! There is! I—you—I’m—" he spluttered.
“Look, will you all just calm down."
“I can feel something…" Yalson began.
Horza started running, pounding back down the corridor. Lamm, who had started to walk back, stopped and put his hands on his
hips when
he saw the other man running, away from him. There was a distant roaring noise in the air, like a big waterfall
heard from far down a gorge.
“I can feel something too, it’s as if—"
“What was Mipp yelling about."
“We’re crashing!" Horza shouted as he ran. The roaring was coming closer, growing stronger all the time.
“Ice!" It was Mipp. “I’m bringing the shuttle! Run! It’s a wall of ice! Neisin! Where are you. Neisin! I’ve got—"
“What!"
“ICE."
The roaring noise grew; the corridor around Horza started to groan. Several of the opaque roof panels fractured and fell to
the floor in front
of him. A section of wall suddenly sprang out like an opening door and he just avoided running into it.
The noise filled his ears.
Lamm looked round, and saw the end of the corridor coming toward him; the whole end section was closing off steadily with
a grinding roar,
advancing toward him at about running speed. He fired at it but it didn’t stop; smoke poured into the corridor.
He swore, turned and ran,
following Horza.
People were yelling and shouting from all over now. There was a babble of tiny voices in both Horza’s ears, but all he could
really hear was
the thundering noise behind him. The deck beneath his feet bucked and trembled, as though the whole gigantic
ship was a building caught in
an earthquake. The plates and panels which made up the corridor walls were buckling; the floor
rose up in places; more roof panels shattered
and fell. All the time the same sapping force was pulling him back, slowing
him down as though he was in a dream. He ran out into daylight,
heard Lamm not far behind.
“Kraiklyn, you stupid motherfucking son of a bitch’s bastard!" Lamm screamed.
The voices yammered in his ear; his heart pounded. He threw each foot forward with all his might, but the roaring was coming
closer,
growing stronger. He ran past the empty state rooms where the soft materials blew, the roof was starting to fold in
on the apartments and the
deck was tilting; the holosphere they had seen earlier came rolling and bouncing out of the collapsing
windows. A hatch near Horza blew out in
a gust of pressured air and flying debris; he ducked as he ran, felt splinters strike
his suit. He skidded as the deck under him banged and leapt.
Lamm’s steps came pounding behind him. Lamm continued to scream
abuse at Kraiklyn over the intercom.
The noise behind him was like a gigantic waterfall, a big rockslide, like a continuous explosion, a volcano. His ears ached
and his mind
reeled, stunned by the volume of the racket. A line of windows set in the wall ahead of him went white, then
exploded toward him, throwing
particles at his suit in a series of small hard clouds. He put his head down again, he headed
for the doorway.
“Bastard bastard bastard!" Lamm bellowed.
“—not stopping!"