<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0158</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0159.txt">Next (Page 159)</A><BR>"<P><P>"Let's get the fuck out of this thing!"<P><P>"I couldn't, uhh, I couldn't agree with you more!"<P><P>With this, Treyess eased back on the throttle and the plane came to dead stop in midair, as she thought it would. Then she swung it around, and headed out the same way they had come in.<P><P>"Are you sure you know the way out?" Ferrajalt asked.<P><P>"I think--yeah--the display has the way marked in green--not to worry, Prince."<P><P>"Good. Let's just get the hell out of here!"<P><P>And in less than a minute, they were out of the hulking construct, and back in the cool dark air of destroyed reality.<P><P>"That," Ferrajalt said, panting, "was not cool."<P><P>"Not hardly," Treyess responded.<P><P>"What the fuck was that all about?"<P><P>"I don't know and I don't want to know--some sort of horrible evil, something beyond our comprehension. Prince, I think we saw something back there that we shouldn't have."<P><P>"Well who knows what sort of madness has come to exist, now that reality is no more," Ferrajalt said, trying to sound calm and in control, to reassure Treyess.<P><P>"I just don't like it. That wasn't adventure, that was just--I don't know--just pure horror."<P><P>"I know, I know."<P><P>"So where are we going?" she asked. "I think I'm headed downriver, but I'm not even sure anymore!"<P><P>"You want me to fly? We still have to check Doscovor. You can set 'er down on the river and we can switch places if you want and I'll fly us down there."<P><P>"Okay--do you mind? I'm just a little too shaken. Sure you don't mind?"<P><P>"No--no problem Treyess. We're teammates--we have to help each other out, right?"<P><P>"Right," Treyess said sweetly, and she pointed the little biplane downwards, and soon landed on the frozen river.<P><P>"Well," Ferrajalt said as he was getting out of the plane, "at least we won't always be wondering what was in that thing. Even though--I might rather not have known."<P><P>Treyess chuckled a little as she got out of the plane also.<P><P>"How do you know that was all that was in there?" she asked.<P><P>"I don't know, but I did get the feeling that that was pretty much the heart of the matter--the unspeakable."<P><P>"Yeah."<P><P>Treyess walked a short distance away from the plane.<P><P>"Just gotta stretch my legs a little," she said.<P><P>"Yeah."<P><P>So they rested there, on the frozen river, and breathed in the air which had more energy in it than they might have imagined. And they spoke and got to know each other better. And they almost kissed, but Treyess pointed out that they had to continue on in their mission, and Ferrajalt agreed. So they got back in the plane, and took off downriver toward where Doscovor might still be.<P><P>Soon the vector display was flashing wildly, heralding the huge drop up ahead which was, of course, the waterfall. And indeed, half a minute later, they flew over the frozen waterfall--an amazing sight to see--all that raw force of nature frozen up and stopped dead in its tracks. But it was the city across from the waterfall with which the two were most interested.<P><P>"Doscovor!" Treyess said.<P><P>"And--look at that! Office Complex at Gumhanshire Prefecture!" Ferrajalt responded, staring at the huge, complex building--all lit up, as if nothing was wrong.<P><P>"So what do you think, Prince? Should we check it out? If there are any people in it, we should evac them before we cream the sucker, no?"<P><P>"Sounds like the right thing to do," Ferrajalt said with a chuckle.<P><P>So they quickly crossed the bay and landed carefully on one of the roofs of the doomed building.<P><P>"Well here we are!" Treyess said. "This sucker's gonna get an ocean liner smack in the face before too long!"<P><P>"You got it!" Ferrajalt said, taking off his helmet and jumping out of the biplane.<P><P>"Wow!" Treyess said, likewise stepping out of the plane and removing her helmet. "Look at the view from up here.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0159.txt">Next (Page 159)</A>