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Page 34.

Nizin and Kogran had returned from— Alex could just imagine! Alex could hardly stomach being near them.

But he pointed to the amulet on Nizin’s chest, and at the sky.

Nizin looked down at the amulet, nodded, and pointed skyward.

Alex asked to see the amulet, and after several minutes of gesticulating and haggling, Nizin let him hold it, but kept hold on the leather thong with both hands.

Alex found the amulet was light, as if hollow inside. It was made of metal, probably steel, of a brown or matte olive color. As Alex turned it over in his hands, he discovered that it consisted of two halves that could be twisted in opposite directions.

As Alex twisted the amulet’s ends, suddenly the screen lit up in the side of the sphere and a woman said: “Sorry, only one rescue boat per site. Please contact Emergency Services if you are having trouble with the lifeboat they went.” Then a man in overalls appeared: “We’re sorry, all technicians are away from their desks right now. Please leave a message and we’ll answer as soon as they can.” The woman’s voice returned: “The default time before another boat can be automatically sent to your location without intervening human attentions will be—” (and a mechanical voice cut in) “1200” (and a different voice said:) “Months.”

The screen went blank.

A century before they’d send another boat!

He thought of all the cylinders in the valley of the rippers—how many centuries had it taken for them to be washed out to sea and pile up like that? Were there any of the cylinders left up in orbit? How could he get one, if any were left, without putting it in Nizin’s hands?

“Ingish!” Nizin yelled, waving his scaly claws. “Geedeen!”

“Geedeen,” he agreed. He motioned: “Go away. I’ll call you.”

Well, he didn’t like that at all. Before he left, he put Omas on the case, but pressed against the whip to be sure Omas was gentle on Maryan and him.

He brought the main menu back up and played around with all the options.

He tried calling orbit but nobody answered.

He listened to more information about the end of the human race.

Omas stirred patiently but anxiously nearby where he hovered to make sure he didn’t hop in the sphere and fly away. He kept Maryan seated on a rock out of his reach.

Then he came to an interesting sequence of options titled: “Fly To Orbit?”

Oh yes, please!

He checked the sub-options: Quick Emergency Evacuation? Medical Evacuation? Cargo Lift (Non-breathing)? Passenger Lift (Breathing)? Open Door - Shut Door. Power Up. And more....

His heart beat faster. He was about to take a big gamble, but he had to risk it. They couldn’t spend another day with these cannibalistic beasts.

“Maryan, darling.”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“You know he love you.”

“Yes, and you know he love you.”

“We’re about to take some action.”

“I understand. If They don’t see each other again...”

He was unable to complete her sentence. “When I give you a wave, roll over the edge of that embankment, all the way to the bottom. I think I’d better act now, while there are almost none of our pals with them.”

“I’m ready,” she said, blowing him a faint kiss.

He said: “Open Door.”

A female image appeared. “You have asked to have the rescue boat door open. To ensure this is a valid action, please identify the largest mountain range in North America.”

“The Rocky Mountains.”

“Thank you.”

A hatch slid open—a rectangular opening appeared in the shiny material where nothing, not even a seam, had been before.

Omas began to shout. “Nizin! Nizin!”

The inside of the sphere appeared to have three stories; all Alex saw was the middle one. Alex quickly guessed: the automatic pilot/astrogator was above the flat aluminum looking ceiling, and the power drive was below the aluminum looking floor. In the middle section was a circle of simple leather seats, about 8 of them, with webbing to strap into. Alex thought about the vents along the bottom of the sphere.

Nizin and Kogran came running, and behind them a crowd of Siirk.

Alex said: “Close Door,” and the surface was shiny and featureless as before.

Nizin puffed up the slope. Omas told him what he’d seen.

Alex opened and closed the door several times.

Nizin tried: “Opador,” he said.

Nothing. The gadget was cued to Alex’s voice signature.

“Open Door,” Alex said. The door opened.

Nizin and four other senior officers stepped inside. At first they were fearful, but then, when nothing bad happened to them, they climbed in to see what was what. He wished all the Siirk, the entire race, would get inside. But in the end, only Nizin and three of his lizard-men were inside, testing the seats. Omas, Kogran, and about ten others stood outside looking in.

Alex surreptitiously made a sign, and Maryan quietly slipped down the slope. Nobody seemed to notice.

Good.

Alex said: “Close Door.”

At that moment, there was an outcry. Nizin and his three companions started yelling and gesticulating. The three companions made it, tumbling out of the boat, while Nizin was trapped inside when the door closed.

It was now or never, Alex thought, watching the three elders stumble away from the craft. Kogran and the others began to shout at Alex.

“Quick Emergency Evacuation,” Alex said.

Omas was on his way toward him, and Kogran also, a little more slowly. The three elders were still lumbering away with upraised arms.

The sphere began to vibrate. The ground under their feet began to tremble. Several Siirk tumbled over. They wanted to run, but Kogran had a spear in his hand and threatened them with death if they ran and left his father.

The sphere uttered in a booming, male loudspeaker voice: “Ten seconds to lift off. You are advised to seek cover at least 1000 meters away to avoid being heat-blasted.”

The echoes of that voice traveled around them, startling both Alex and the Siirk, though he’d expected this.

“Eight, seven, six...” ran the countdown.

The engine sounded as if it were starting to go millions of RPMs.

“...Five, four, three...”

He dove for cover, rolling over the edge and down toward Maryan.

“...Two, one, lift-off!”

A tidal wave of pressure and heat radiated away from the sphere.

The sphere rose straight up, dwindling rapidly into the clouds.

The heat blast—the temperature so high that the air glowed bluish-red—streaked out in a growing disk in all directions, and he saw several Siirk flying through the air, including the elders, at least one of them coming apart in pieces.

Kogran and Omas were among the few Siirk who were kicked over the edge and avoided the worst of the blast.

They lay unconscious and spread-eagled.

Alex took Maryan’s hand and they ran as fast as they could into the forest.