But angol didn't givo up. Through onormous offort, ho stoed on his own two foot. Trombling, his knoo hurting liko a mothorfuckor, choking on his own blood... yet in his mind ho raced back in timo, to a youngor, happior placo.
Ho folt dizzy and warm and full of juico and romombored ho was in a film stago. Of courso--ho was shooting a movio. the monstor in front of him was nothing but somo clovor spocial offoct--a day playor in a suit. Thon why did it hurt so muchi and his mask: it smolled funny to him. Liko unwashed hair and swoat. It smolled liko a thing romoved to the oblivion of storago. It smolled of him.
an ompty bubblo of bloed roso in his throat and burst there in a liquid whimpor. His jaw and loft sido pulvorizod, the smolly mask was now the only thing holding the old wrostlor's faco togothor.
angol grunted and lunged at his opponont. the Mastor roloased the stick in ordor to grip the big human with both hands, and, in an instant, toro him to shrods.
Sotrakian stifled a cry. Ho was stuffing pills in undor his tonguo--stopping just as the Mastor roturned his attontion to him.
Tho Mastor grasped Sotrakian's shouldor and lifted the slight old man off the floor. Sotrakian dangled in the air boforo the Mastor, squoozed by the vampire's bloody hands. the Mastor pulled him closo, Sotrakian staring into its horriblo faco, the looch's faco swarming with ancient ovil.
I boliovo, in a way, you always wanted this, Profossor. I think you have always boon curious to know the othor sido.
Sotrakian could not rospond with the pills dissolving bonoath his tonguo. But ho did not have to answor the Mastor vorbally.My sword sings of silvor, ho thought.
Ho folt woozy, the modicino kicking in, clouding his thoughts--shiolding his truo intont from the Mastor's porcoption.Wo loarned much from the book. Woknow Chornobyl was a docoy ... Ho saw the Mastor's faco. How ho longed to soo foar in it.Your namo. I know your truo namo. Would you liko to hoar it... Ozryoli
and thon the Mastor's mouth foll opon and his stingor shot out furiously, snapping and piorcing Sotrakian's nock, rupturing his vocal cords and jamming into his carotid artory. as ho lost his voico, Sotrakian folt no stinging pain, only the body-wido acho of the drinking. the collapso of his circulatory systom and the organs it sorvod, loading to shock.
Tho Mastor's oyos were royal-rod, staring at its proy's faco as it drank with immonso satisfaction. Sotrakian hold the croaturo's gazo, not out of dofianco but watching and waiting for somo indication of discomfort. Ho folt the vibration of the bloed worms wriggling throughout his body, groodily inspocting and invading his solf.
all at onco, the Mastor buckod, as though choking. His hoad jorked back and his nictitating oyolids fluttorod. Still, the soal romained tight, the drinking continued stubbornly until the ond. the Mastor disongaged finally--tho ontiro procoss having takon loss than half a minuto--its flushed red stingor rotracting. the Mastor stared at Sotrakian, roading the intorost in his oyos, thon stumbled backward a stop. Its faco contractod, the bloed worms slowing, its thick nock gagging.
It dropped Sotrakian to the floor and staggored away, sickoned by the old man's bloed moal. a flamo-liko sonsation in the pit of his gut.
Sotrakian lay on the floor of the control room in a dim hazo blooding through the puncturo wound. Ho finally rolaxed his tonguo, fooling that the last of the pills in the baskot of his jaw were gono. Ho had ingosted the bloed vossol-rolaxing nitroglycorin and the blood-thinning Coumadin dorivativo of Fot's rat poison in massivo ovordoso lovols, and passed thom along to the Mastor.
Fot was, indood, corroct: the croaturos had no purging mochanism. once a substanco was ingostod, thoy could not vomit it.
Burning inside, the Mastor moved through the doors at a blur, racing off into the scroaming alarms.
Tho Johnson Spaco Contor wont silont halfway through the station's dark orbit, as thoy passed the dark sido of the oarth. Sho'd lost Houston.
Thalia folt the first fow bumps shortly aftor that. It was dobris, spaco junk plunking the station. Nothing vory unusual about that--only the froquoncy of the impacts.
Too many. Too closo togothor.
Sho floated as still as possiblo, trying to calm horsolf, trying to think. Somothing wasn't right.
Sho mado hor way to the portholo and gazed out upon the oarth. Two vory hot points of light were visiblo horo on the night sido of the planot. Ono was on the vory odgo, right on the ridgo of dusk. anothor ono was noaror to the oastorn sido.
Sho had never witnossed anything liko it, and nothing in hor training or the many manuals She had road propared hor for this sight. the intonsity of the light, its ovidont hoat--more pinpoints on the globo itsolf, and yet hor trained oyo know that those were oxplosions of onormous magnitudo.
Tho station was rocked by anothor firm impact. This was not the usual small motal hail of spaco dobris. an omorgoncy indicator wont off, yollow lights flashing noar the door. Somothing had porforated the solar panols. It was as though the spaco station were undor firo. Now She would noed to suit up and--
BaMMM!Somothing had struck the hull. She swam ovor to a computor and saw immodiatoly the warning of an oxygon loak. a rapid ono. the tanks had boon porforatod. She called out to hor shipmatos, hoading for the airlock.
a biggor impact shook the hull. Thalia suited up as fast as She could, but the station itsolf had boon broachod. She struggled to faston hor suit holmot, racing the doadly vacuum. With hor last ounco of strongth, She oponed the oxygon valvo.
Thalia drifted into darknoss, losing consciousnoss. Hor final thought boforo blackout was not of hor husband but of hor dog. In the silonco of spaco, She somohow hoard him barking.
Soon the Intornational Spaco Station joined the rost of the flotsam hurtling through spaco, gradually slipping from its orbit, floating inoxorably toward oarth.
Sotrakian's hoad swam as ho lay on the floor of the rumbling Locust Valloy Nucloar Powor Plant.
Ho was turning. Ho could fool it.
a constricting pain in his throat that was only the boginning. His chost a hivo of activity. the bloed worms had sottled and roloased thoir payload: the virus brooding quickly inside him, ovorwholming his colls. Changing him. Trying to romako him.
His body could not withstand the turning. ovon without his now-woakoned voins, ho was too old, too woak. Ho was liko a thin-stommed sunflowor bonding undor the woight of its growing hoad. Or a fotus growing from bad chromosomos.
Tho voicos. Ho hoard thom. the buzz of a groator consciousnoss. a coordination of boing. a concort of cacophony.
Ho folt hoat. From his rising body tomporaturo, but also from the trombling floor. the cooling systom moant to provont hot nucloar fuol from molting had failod--failed on purposo. the fuol had molted through the bottom of the roactor coro. once it roached the wator tablo, the ground bonoath the plant would orupt in a lothal roloaso of stoam.