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myself unable to conceive spells of dissolution."
The tone of his voice sounded as if this minor admission, which reflected no
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discredit upon him as a mage, had been extracted only by the direst tor-
ture.
"I feel sure of it, Brother Mage, Grimm replied, but I cannot see
that their removal will aid us much. The openings cannot be more than
ten inches across, far too small to allow either of us to wriggle
through."
"What of your pet demon? Such an aperture would prove no obstacle to him."
A familiar, grey head popped up from Grimm's pocket. My name is Thrib-
ble , human, and I amnobody's pet, the imp squeaked.
"I must apologise on behalf of my colleague, Thribble. Grimm said. He
has higher matters on his mind, such as our escape from this cell and the
defeat of our odious enemy, Armitage. I am sure he intended no slight. Are
you willing to enter this duct in search of some means of obtaining our
release?"
The netherworld creature gave a high-pitched snort that sounded like a
lapdog's sneeze. I am more than happy to do so, mortal. This place is very
boring. You need not disintegrate the bars; the clearance between them is
more than adequate for me. Just lift me to the ceiling, and allow me to do
the rest."
* * * *
Armitage seethed with impatience. Terrence, just what is holding you up
now?"
The Technician's voice crackled over the comms link, although the
line distortion failed to hide a trace of annoyance.
"We're working as fast as we can, Administrator, but it just doesn't pay
to be hasty with this stuff. Remember: just the tiniest leak in the system
could spell death for all of us, and the air ducts aren't exactly new.
We're just about to close the flame arrestor baffles, but I've decided to
carry out a test run with a low-level radioactive tracer at five PSI over-
pressure before we dare try the nerve agent. If that checks out OK, we'll
be confident enough to try the gas.
"What's your hurry, anyway, Administrator? Those mages must still be
penned up nice and tight; you couldn't get an antitank shell through
those armour-plated security barriers. It may take a little longer than I
first thought, but better safe than sorry."
Armitage shot a glance at the monitor to his left. The younger specimen
had been holding his hand up to the ceiling, perhaps sensing the flow of
air through the ventilation shaft; however, it seemed his interest had
waned, since he had now returned to his cross-legged meditation.
"Very well, Terrence, start your test. It doesn't look as if they're
going anywhere in a hurry."
* * * *
The narrow opening led to an eight-inch deep vertical shaft. Thribble
braced his feet carefully on two of the steel bars, drew several deep
breaths and launched himself upwards, his arms at full stretch. Just as it
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He allowed a few moments for his pounding heart to recover from its exertions
before he started in a clockwise direction, going against the flow of air,
although he found it no great impediment to his progress.
Assuming that this was an integrated network of tunnels carrying air to the
whole of Haven from some central nexus, he should be able to find his way out
into the main corridor. A momentary thrill of vertigo ran through him as he
realised he had no idea how he could expect to drop through the next opening
and survive, but he resolved to deal with that problem as it arose. He should
be able to able to find his way to the Habitation Block, and perhaps he would
find an aperture directly over a nice, soft bed that could break his fall
without breaking him .
As he reached the next junction, a gleaming metal iris screwed shut in front
of Thribble with a screeching, metallic hiss. It was so swift in its motion
that it would have bisected him, had he not leapt back with alacrity. He at-
tempted to use his limited powers of Translocation, but the barrier must be
thicker than it looked, or perhaps there were several of them in close
proximity: he found himself unable to exit his underworld cubby-hole, and he
had to re-enter the mortal realm where he had left it
Looking backward along the shaft, he saw a similar valve blocking the
previous junction. He had now only a single path left to him, so he took it.
His diminutive stature allowed him to proceed in a series of kangaroo-hops
along the narrow tube, which he found a far more efficient means of locomotion
over long distances than walking. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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