[spoilers] Extrait

In the flume cavern on First Earth...

I didn’t know what the dados were after, but it couldn’t be good. Their presence alone on First Earth wasn’t good. I couldn’t let them get beyond this cavern. Problem was, there were lots of them and not-lots of me. I had one chance and had to take it.

“Quillan!” I shouted.

The flume sprang to life. My idea was to send them back to where there they came from. The goons stopped and gazed back into the tunnel curiously. They looked like confused dogs who didn’t know what to make of a strange sound. Their curiosity cost them. Light blasted from the tunnel and enveloped them. I didn’t know how many of them were in the flume, but they got sucked back in and sent on their way home to Quillan. My idea worked. I let out a relieved breath…

…a little too soon. One of them realized what was happening. Before the pull of the flume could grab him, he sprang forward, leaping out of the tunnel and into the cavern. I was ready. I braced myself, ready for him to jump me. He didn’t. Instead, he ran right past me, headed for the door to the subway. Whatever his mission was, it wasn’t to mess with me. In that brief instant I had the sick feeling that they weren’t there because of Courtney and me, I feared they were coming to invade First Earth.

I had to attack. That wasn’t something I was used to, or even knew how to do. Loor taught me to defend myself, not be the aggressor. Most of her training was about letting the other guy make the mistakes. If I had done that, the Dado would have left me alone standing there at the gate, crouched down, ready to defend myself. Looking stupid.

Bright light from the flume filled the cavern as I spun and tackled the robot from behind, wrapping my arms around his legs. He sprawled forward, hitting the rock wall next to the wooden door with his shoulder. Hard. The impact was strong enough to knock a chunk of rock out of the wall. The robot didn’t even grunt. Not good. Dados didn’t feel pain, which meant they had no fear. I didn’t know what to do so I held his legs in a bear hug. His clothing crumbled in my grip, like they were rotten. Weird. But I didn’t let go. I could feel the strength of its robot-legs. He was a machine. I wasn’t. My only hope was to somehow wrestle it back into the flume and send us both out of there. There was no way I could beat the mechanical thug in a fight without a weapon.

A weapon! I quickly reached up to grab his pistol from its holster. Bad idea. The dado’s leg was free. He kneed me in the head. I fell back, reeling. I saw stars, and not the kind you see through the flume. I had to shake it off fast or this thing would be loose on First Earth. I scrambled back to my feet to see I had given the dado an idea. It was reaching for his pistol. Oops. I looked around, desperately. The light was already receding into the flume. I had missed the bus. Could I activate it again quickly? Nope. Not before this thing took a shot at me. The only thing I could do was attack.

I leapt forward, launching myself parallel to the ground. I hit the robot as it fired and…FUM! The dado fell backward as the charge from its weapon smashed the wall, blasting out a spray of rocks. The dado landed on its back. I landed on the dado. For a brief instant I was eye to eye with the robot, staring into its mechanical, lifeless doll-eyes. Yikes.

The moment didn’t last long. The robot threw me off like I was made of straw. I was running out of ideas, not that I had that many in the first place. I hit the ground and rolled toward the mouth of the flume.

“Quillan!” I shouted one more time. The flume sprang back to life. It was the only thing I could think of doing, though I had no idea how I was going to wrestle the dado into the tunnel. As the light from the flume began to fill the cavern, I stood with my back to the entrance. The dado stood with its back to the door of the cavern. It was a standoff. No, I take that back. The dado was in complete control. The only thing I could do was step back into the flume and get out of there. The dado raised its pistol, aiming at me. I instinctively took a step back, but stopped. I couldn’t leave. I had to let it shoot me. At least when I came to, I’d still be on First Earth and could figure out a way to chase it down. Leaving wasn’t an option. I braced myself, ready to get nailed.


Je pense que Fazz, s' il le veut pourra traduire beaucoup mieux que moi