Gateways 07_ What Lay Beyond - Diane Carey [94]
“Run!” shouted Calhoun, and they tried, but within moments they were surrounded, and that was when a roar like a shattering planet filled the air, and there was a clang of swords, and Calhoun could actually hear bodies being sliced apart.
Unstoppable, Gr’zy cut a path to Calhoun and Shelby, and the others fell back, confused and angry and regrouping, their hesitation lasting only moments. But it was moments enough for a ragged Calhoun to look up at the dark face of his father and say, “I thought you said I wasn’t a son of yours.”
Gr’zy grumbled, “Yes, well… I realized that sometimes you’re more your mother’s son. And I loved her dearly. But she was no warrior. I miss her terribly… as much as I’ll miss you. Go.”
“Father, I !”
“Go, damn you!” he shouted, and shoved Calhoun as hard as he could. Shelby caught him and they ran, and it was an incredible thing to see. The warriors tried to get past Gr’zy, tried to pursue his son, and it should have been impossible to hold them back, as impossible as a single sand bag keeping back the ocean tide. But Gr’zy was everywhere, as was his sword, and no man passed as Calhoun and Shelby sprinted the remaining distance. Calhoun gripped Shelby’s hand as tightly as he could, and together they leaped through the gateway. And the last thing he heard his father cry out was, “This has been a good day!”
And the sun set on Kaz’hera.
Just as before, the transition was instantaneous, except this time it was far more brutal. One moment they were bathed in warmth, and the next the wind and ice were hammering them with the force of a thousand nails.
Calhoun went down, Shelby tumbling on top of him. Almost instantly he was losing feeling in his face, in his hands and feet, and even taking a single breath was agony for him. He clutched Shelby to him, and when he looked at her his heart sank in dismay. While in Kaz’hera, she had healed. But here, back in this marvelous “real world” to which she’d been so anxious to return, she was as banged up and bruised as before they’d gone through the gateway.
There was no place to run to, no place for them to take shelter. Calhoun thought it was a miracle that their hearts hadn’t simply stopped from the shock of going from one extreme to another, but then he thought better of it. After all, what kind of miracle was it when all it did was spare them a quick death in exchange for a slower and more agonizing one?
Then he looked down at Shelby, who was gazing up at him, unable to move, barely able to speak, and he understood. It was a miracle because it was giving them a few last moments together, and any time that they were together was miraculous.
As the wind screamed above them, trying to drown out anything they might have said to one another, Calhoun leaned in close to her, put his lips right up against her ears. “Till death do us part,” whispered Calhoun. She nodded mutely, and then they kissed passionately, holding each other close, icing over, the gateway silent behind them…
And then there was a roar near them, and in his near-death delirium, Calhoun wondered whether Valkyries were descending from Valhalla. They were, after all, freezing to death, and that was certainly evocative of the icy climes that the Norsemen hailed from…
He managed to barely roll over just then, and saw with distant astonishment that a long-range shuttlecraft was approaching. What do Valkyries need with a shuttlecraft? Calhoun wondered, right before he passed out.
When Shelby opened her eyes, she saw Calhoun smiling down at her, felt the distinctly unglacial warmth around her, and for just a moment she thought, You bastard… you brought us back through the gateway… we’re back in your idea of paradise… here we go again …
And then a familiar voice, brisk with efficiency, said, “Step aside, please, Captain.” Calhoun did so, and then Dr. Selar was standing over her, guiding a medical tricorder along her and nodding approvingly. “Full circulation has been restored. However, I would advise that you not”
Shelby immediately sat up. An instant