Descending Road - A WALL-TO-WALL PAIN by Dana W. Paxson

A WALL-TO-WALL PAIN

1563 4D

“Get ready to run,” Ellichik yelled, breaking another torch open. He heaved a snouted projectile down the corridor. “Right now!” He sprinted past them away from the attacking group, hurdling the floor hole; everyone followed, stumbling on each others’ heels. A thud echoed, and over the whoop of the alarm the screams began.

She had never heard anything so unhuman, as if metal gods shrieked million-year curses at her. Her legs wavered as the sounds clenched her heart, then she righted herself and raced ahead. Ellichik kept his left shoulder brushing the inner wall of the curved corridor, his silhouette bobbing. He stopped so fast that the others ran into him. “Back up! Here, Big Shot, use your cannon and get us in here.” He jammed a finger on an access plate in the wall and then stepped back. “Just knock it out, hard.”

“Duck, folks,” Rennie said between the whoops of the alarm. As they all shrank away, he backed to the opposite wall and squeezed off an oblique shot at the plate, with the outsize beam gun. Light strobed around them, Angie damping the roar and blast in their senses. A wave of heat blew at them. The screaming had died away.

The wall opened. A small room appeared, glowing with emergency backup light, occupied by three technicians with datasheets and tools in their hands.

“Don’t shoot in here, please,” one of the three said in a shaky voice, raising his hands, one sleeved in a micromain. “There’s no protection or backup control inside the wall you just breached.”

“What do you mean?” Ellichik said, waving his weapon at them. The others raised their hands.

“Please. You blow anything in here and this whole damn thing, all thirty levels of it, goes to hot slag. Whoever you are, you win. We give up. Now let us get it running right again, since you fucked up the third-backup aux pumps.”

“You better warn the others, Ellichik,” Nargolin said. Her helm dipped and rose. “We lost Fincarlis when you dumped that bomb. He fell down.”

“Damn. Yeah, I’ll warn ‘em.” Ellichik muttered some words rapidly; he glanced around and out the doorway. Ezzar turned to look back the way they had come.

Ellichik said, “Go ahead, people, fix what you got to.” The dark corridor they had used filled with smoke and the tireless beat of the alarm. Two red figures appeared in her display, their hands raised in surrender.

“Where’d you come from?” she asked them. Nargolin took their weapons.

“We were ten steps away when you blew this door,” one said. “You with the colls? We’re Hejj. We let another bunch of your guys in a quarter of the way around. Torre‘s group?”

“Great,” Nargolin muttered. “Now he’s gonna be a wall-to-wall pain in the ass. Well, if you’re friends, come with us and do some good.” The two men came in. One handed her a set of detailed maps of the Complex.

“Torre‘s in, and so’s Raffina, and so’s Jirinai. We’ve done it,” Ellichik said. Torre sends congratulations, and says get our butts out to shore up the approaches, except for Raffina‘s team. They get the job of letting the world know. And Georvil never showed. Anybody seen him?” Heads shook No.

As Ezzar trotted and climbed through a maze of tunnels, shafts and stairs, the lights came on again, full strength. In a regularly-timed sequence they dimmed to a dusk, then flared to full again, repeating the cycle as if days tightened into heartbeats. Then they stayed on. At last, she smiled.

Story List	SURPRISE ME	Author Page
USER SURVEY	PUZZLE ME	MAKE ELM MARK

HOVER Lucida Bright BARE	HOVER Lucida Bright FULL	HOVER Palatino Linotype BARE
HOVER Palatino Linotype FULL	HOVER Times New Roman BARE	HOVER Times New Roman FULL
PAD Arial BARE	PAD Arial FULL	PAD Lucida Bright BARE
PAD Lucida Bright FULL	PAD Times New Roman BARE	PAD Times New Roman FULL


	A WALL-TO-WALL PAIN 1563 4D “Get ready to run,” Ellichik yelled, breaking another torch open. He heaved a snouted projectile down the corridor. “Right now!” He sprinted past them away from the attacking group, hurdling the floor hole; everyone followed, stumbling on each others’ heels. A thud echoed, and over the whoop of the alarm the screams began. She had never heard anything so unhuman, as if metal gods shrieked million-year curses at her. Her legs wavered as the sounds clenched her heart, then she righted herself and raced ahead. Ellichik kept his left shoulder brushing the inner wall of the curved corridor, his silhouette bobbing. He stopped so fast that the others ran into him. “Back up! Here, Big Shot, use your cannon and get us in here.” He jammed a finger on an access plate in the wall and then stepped back. “Just knock it out, hard.” “Duck, folks,” Rennie said between the whoops of the alarm. As they all shrank away, he backed to the opposite wall and squeezed off an oblique shot at the plate, with the outsize beam gun. Light strobed around them, Angie damping the roar and blast in their senses. A wave of heat blew at them. The screaming had died away. The wall opened. A small room appeared, glowing with emergency backup light, occupied by three technicians with datasheets and tools in their hands. “Don’t shoot in here, please,” one of the three said in a shaky voice, raising his hands, one sleeved in a micromain. “There’s no protection or backup control inside the wall you just breached.” “What do you mean?” Ellichik said, waving his weapon at them. The others raised their hands. “Please. You blow anything in here and this whole damn thing, all thirty levels of it, goes to hot slag. Whoever you are, you win. We give up. Now let us get it running right again, since you fucked up the third-backup aux pumps.” “You better warn the others, Ellichik,” Nargolin said. Her helm dipped and rose. “We lost Fincarlis when you dumped that bomb. He fell down.” “Damn. Yeah, I’ll warn ‘em.” Ellichik muttered some words rapidly; he glanced around and out the doorway. Ezzar turned to look back the way they had come. Ellichik said, “Go ahead, people, fix what you got to.” The dark corridor they had used filled with smoke and the tireless beat of the alarm. Two red figures appeared in her display, their hands raised in surrender. “Where’d you come from?” she asked them. Nargolin took their weapons. “We were ten steps away when you blew this door,” one said. “You with the colls? We’re Hejj. We let another bunch of your guys in a quarter of the way around. Torre‘s group?” “Great,” Nargolin muttered. “Now he’s gonna be a wall-to-wall pain in the ass. Well, if you’re friends, come with us and do some good.” The two men came in. One handed her a set of detailed maps of the Complex. “Torre‘s in, and so’s Raffina, and so’s Jirinai. We’ve done it,” Ellichik said. Torre sends congratulations, and says get our butts out to shore up the approaches, except for Raffina‘s team. They get the job of letting the world know. And Georvil never showed. Anybody seen him?” Heads shook No. As Ezzar trotted and climbed through a maze of tunnels, shafts and stairs, the lights came on again, full strength. In a regularly-timed sequence they dimmed to a dusk, then flared to full again, repeating the cycle as if days tightened into heartbeats. Then they stayed on. At last, she smiled.