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James Axler - Death Lands - Keeper of the Sun
"That was a mean mother of a quake," Mildred said quietly. "Poor kid."
Ryan didn't know whether she meant Issie or Jak, and didn't feel like asking.
"One more like that could wreck the house," he said, aware of how loud and harsh his
voice seemed to sound. "And it's goodbye to the mat-trans unit and goodbye to ever
getting home again to Deathlands."
Even in his rage and misery, Ryan's words penetrated to Jak, and he broke away from
Krysty, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "It's right, Ryan," he said. "Must go. Nothing here
stay for. Nothing."
THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE was badly damaged since they had last been there a few
days earlier.
The shrine by the entrance had tumbled, and the little brass statue of the grasshopper was
lying on the floor, three of its spindly legs broken off. The beautiful stained-glass picture
of the cherry blossom and the stork that had decorated the front door had shattered into a
hundred brilliantly colored shards.
Ryan led the way toward the air-lock door, through and along to the elevator.
"Where we going to put the grens?" J.B. asked.
"They've only got twenty-second timers, haven't they? Not all that long."
The Armorer nodded. "Right. We don't really know how long it takes for a jump to be
properly initiated. Feels like thirty seconds or so before we become unconscious. Might
be a deal more than that before we actually get to jump out of there."
"Grens could go off while we're in midjump," Mildred said. "That what you're saying,
John?"
"Right, love. Could put them in the elevator shaft when we're down there. Seal it off tight
and also bring the house down on top of everything."
"That would bury us snugger than a pharaoh in his sarcophagus, would it not?" Doc
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James Axler - Death Lands - Keeper of the Sun
asked.
"Sure would," Ryan replied.
"And if something malfunctioned with the mechanism? What then? Then it will a long
goodbye and a big sleep for us all. As Mr. Chandler would have said."
Ryan didn't know who this Chandler guy was, but Doc had a point.
It could be rather like sawing off a branch that you were sitting on.
"Mashashige won't be invading Deathlands," he said. "Nor will any of his men. Nor his
brother."
"But there'll always be someone else who'll find the house and the gateway," Krysty
protested.
Ryan sighed. It was tempting to take the grens with them back to Deathlands, where they
could always find a use. But, Krysty was right. Everything that they'd seen in what
remained of Japan pointed toward lethal problems over the next few years. And if the
gateway should still function&
There was an obvious risk to themselves, but a greater risk for the future if they didn't act
now.
"Use them in the house," he decided. "Last burner and an implode. Last pair of implodes
can go up in the elevator at the final moment before we go to make the jump. We can
check that everything seems all right in the gateway first."
Nobody argued against the plan.
When they stood in front of the elevator, Ryan almost expected Dean to appear and
eagerly ask whether he could press the controls, as he always used to. During the exciting
time in Japan, Ryan had put his son to the back of his mind. Now they were heading
home again, he wondered how the boy was getting on up in his Colorado school.
But he set that aside and pushed in the code himself six, two, eight, three, four and one.
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James Axler - Death Lands - Keeper of the Sun
The door slid open and he stepped in, pressing the button to hold it open. "J.B., use your
burner and the implode. Jak, keep yours for the last minute. Set them for the full twenty
and then get in quick."
The Armorer set the timer on the scarlet-and-blue implode and lobbed it out through the
interior door into the hallway, following it immediately with the burner. He closed the
doors and stepped smartly into the elevator.
Ryan pushed the Down button, and the cage began to drop.
"Quake now and we're deep in the ordure," Mildred commented.
Ryan was looking at his chron, counting down the seconds. It was on eleven when they
reached the bottom of the shaft and the door hissed smoothly open.
As they were entering the mat-trans control area, the tiny digits flickered around to
twenty.
There was a faint vibration from above them, and a few flakes of plaster fell from the
cracked ceiling. Ryan noticed even at a cursory glance that the control area had suffered
from the recent quakes with some consoles dark and several ceiling lights off.
One thing that had been worrying him was how they would actually jump to Deathlands,
whether the ordinary last-destination button code would do the trick.
But he noticed something they'd missed on the way out. There was a sheet of paper taped
to the door by the control panel, with a list of American regions on it.
"Want me to do the last grens?" Jak asked.
"Sure." The earth trembled and another light went off. "Do it now. Krysty, we could copy
this list, take it with us, and see if it operates from other gateways. Give us control over
where we want to jump to."
Doc shook his head. "I fear, my dear friend, that it would be fruitless. The codes differ
from redoubt to redoubt. I remember that from my time with the white-coats. Just pick a
place and enter it."
Jak came running back. "Sent them up in elevator," he said. "Got about fifteen. Closed
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James Axler - Death Lands - Keeper of the Sun
outer door. Give protection. But should go quick."
"Right." Ryan scanned the list. "How about Tennessee? Haven't been there for a while."
"Do it, lover," Krysty said nervously. "Got a bad feeling that something's going wrong."
Like an echo to her words, they all felt a rumble that made the floor shake.
"Grens," Mildred said hopefully.
Jak sniffed, counting to himself. "Not time. Coming up& Now."
They all heard the distinctive noise of the pair of implode grens, far above them, though it
was muffled by the sec doors into the gateway.
The sound was overlaid by the thunder of a quake, the noise all around them, as if the
walls of the gateway were about to crumble in at any second.
"In," Ryan snapped, punching in the digital code for Tennessee, not waiting for everyone
to sit on the floor of the orange-walled chamber. He stepped in and slammed the door
firmly shut to trigger the jump mechanism.
Everyone knew what to do.
J.B. had taken off his fedora and placed it on his lap, carefully folding his glasses and
placing them safely in a pocket, the Uzi in his lap, scattergun within reach. He held
Mildred's hand. She reached out for Doc, who had slowly creaked his way down, laying
the ebony sword-stick at his side, stretching out his aged knee boots.
Jak, red eyes swollen from crying, sat next to Doc, pressing his skinny back against the
armaglass wall.
The rumble was becoming much louder and more insistent as Ryan finally seated himself
alongside Krysty, having unslung the rifle and placing it by his side.
"Here we go," he said.
"Sayonara, my friends," Doc whispered, his voice sounding small and far away.
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James Axler - Death Lands - Keeper of the Sun
The disks in floor and ceiling were beginning to glow brightly, and the familiar white
mist was gathering above their heads. Ryan felt his brain being scooped out of his skull
and whirled around and around.
"Tennessee," he breathed, his last sentient thought one of pleasure that they would very
soon be home safely in Deathlands again.
At that moment the big quake finally arrived.
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