He snapped the diamond lens to his eye and his fingers
caught at the drop of sun-stuff on the awl. He had to hold it near the
glowing bit for steadiness, and it began searing his fingers. He forced
control on his muscles and plunged his hand slowly through the sky
sphere, easing the glowing blob downward toward the spot on the globe he
had already located with the lens. His thumb and finger moved downward
delicately, with all the skill of practice at working with nearly
invisibly fine wires on delicate instruments.
Then he jerked his eyes away from the model and looked out. Something
glaring and hot was suspended in the air five miles away. He moved his
hand carefully, steadying it on one of the planet tracks. The glowing
fire in the air outside moved another mile closer--then another. And
now, around it, he could see a monstrous fingertip and something that
might have been miles of thumbnail.
The warlocks leaped back under the roof. The Sons of the Egg screamed
and panicked. Jerking horribly, the monstrous thing moved again. For
part of a second, it hovered over the empty camp. Then it was gone.
Hanson began pulling his hand out through the shell of the model,
whimpering as his other hand clenched against the blob in his pocket. He
had suddenly realized what horrors were possible to anyone who could use
the orrery now. "Rumpelstilsken, I command you to let no hand other than
mine enter and to respond to no other controls.
Pages:
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138