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.You never really knew your mother.How can you be so sure?Because Gaia has told me.In truth, during some of her prayers while she wasgrowing up, Krysty had asked the earth goddess about her mother.There'd neverbeen any definite answers, but Krysty had never had any cause to feel sad orfile:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E.er%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.html (84 of 332) [1/3/2005 12:28:08 AM]file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.htmlscared.She was certain that whatever other se-crets Mother Sonja might havehad, she was a good person.At least at the time that she'd lived in Harmony ville.You use the goddess's name in vain.Such sacrilege would normally be punished.Then try.You've pushed me out of my own body, nearly chilled the man I lovewith all my heart.How do you think you can punish me any more?The woman didn't answer, and the silence that followed the question was almostdeafening, trapped as it was in the small white room.Sensing the weakness, Krysty twisted in the air until she made contact with one ofthe walls again.The weightless-ness here was confusing, and getting herself setwas hard.Still, she managed, finally able to get into a kneeling po-sition on thesurface she'd chosen.Then she pushed herself outward toward the opposite wall.She put her bunched fists in front of her, screaming out her rage and frustration,tem-porarily blocking out that voice.The room's walls exploded before her hands, tumbling away in jagged shards.Then she was inside the fort where the companions had holed up.And she was looking down at her own body, her head in Mildred's lap.No, she thought, instantly afraid of the implications.Fool, Phlorin told her.It isn't you who has died.But I am about to so that I maylive.Krysty called out to Mildred, but her efforts went un-heard.She reached for herfriend, only to watch her hand pass right through Mildred's.Hastily Krysty turnedher per-spective point, focusing on Ryan as he squatted beside Phlorin.Now it begins, the old woman said inside Krysty's mind.This man of yours isstupe, but he is determined.file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E.er%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.html (85 of 332) [1/3/2005 12:28:08 AM]file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.htmlThe panga glittered in Ryan's hand, the edge pointed up.Krysty crossed the room, having no sensation of walking, just suddenly appearingat Ryan's side.Lover!Ryan stared at the woman.Krysty read in her lover's movements that he was thereto kill the old woman."Time's come to shit or get off the pot.You're only onestep away from catching the last train headed West.Release Krysty."Krysty reached for her lover, trying to cup her hand un-der Ryan's head and forcehim to turn to look at her.Ryan froze, then slowly his head came around.His single eye widened, showingthe full blue of the iris."Krysty," he whispered.Don't, Krysty tried to tell him.You're playing right into whatever she's doing,lover.Before, she'd managed to reach Ryan through some aspect of her gift.Sheguessed that it could happen again if she tried hard enough.Ryan shook his head."What is it?" Mildred asked."I thought I heard Krysty call my name," he said.Mildred shook her head."Your imagination, Ryan.I've been with her the wholetime and I haven't heard a word."No! Krysty screamed.She reached for Ryan again, more determined this time.Her hands and arms passed through her lover's body as if he'd been made ofsmoke.Ryan turned his attention back to the old woman."Last chance," he told her in aflat voice."Let Krysty go, or I'll chill you as you lay."file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E.er%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.html (86 of 332) [1/3/2005 12:28:08 AM]file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.htmlSee how sure he is of himself, Phlorin taunted.So brave, so demanding.Men arepathetic.And they have the gall to think that every problem can be answered withphysical violence.She smiled in disdain, and Krysty didn't know if the smile wasmeant for her or Ryan.Then Ryan struck, as fast as any mountain cat back home in Harmony that Krystyhad ever seen.Despite his harsh tactics, she knew her lover took no pride and nopleasure in death.He struck to kill, plunging the panga deep into the woman'sheart.Krysty felt the blade as though it entered her own body, cold steel suddenlyinvading hot, pulsing flesh.She screamed, but the pain in her voice paled besidethe screech that echoed in her mind from Phlorin.The woman convulsed from the floor, grabbing at Ryan's arm.Krysty watched,trapped by whatever bound her to the old woman, and felt her lover's fleshthrough Phlorin's hand.Then the woman died, spitting blood onto Ryan as she fought to hang on to herexistence and bite him at the same time.He caught her hair up in his free handand shoved her head back.Gradually her muscles relaxed, and she fell away fromhim.But Krysty felt the growth inside her own mind, more deeply entrenched thanever.She screamed, realizing that even though she'd escaped the cage she'd beenconfined in, she was more trapped now than ever.Before she could move, before she could think, she felt something pulling at her.She turned to face it, then realized that she was being drawn to her own body.Inan eye blink, she was back inside her own flesh.But she wasn't alone.She alsorealized that she wasn't breathing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]