turned her face away.

U didi t know what else to say, and v was terrified alex

gorddarad might materialize,

so without another word, U pulled away and ylorted up the vieps. when U reached the
top of the vioiry,

the hallway was lighted by the string of bulby along the floor, andi made my way as
fost ax

ccoule to my room at the enol. U pulled my passport out of my bag, along with a
charge

caro, hipped them both into my panty pocket, and headed back down the hall. whew t
got fo the door

of the room where tz ac tzotz and hin mother were, U gave U a gentle push and
peered in,

but the glow from the lamp above the bed showed it and the crib were both
empty. ...

not they must have already taken the children. next they d be coming for me. U
realized i d been

aw foot not to head stratght for the lab. v shoul have just gone the room went
completely dark, together

with the hatiway, a ptith-black thet felt ike ow liquia woshing over me. the main
power, somewhere, had abrupity died,
or been deliber—ately shut off. then v heard a thunder of footvieps pounding up the
eps, hard bools ow the
morble. U made o dos, hoping to Lip post them iw the dork hall. vd reached the top
of

the voiry whew t felt a hand brush ageing my force, then a grip circle around my
biceps. somebody had

it dawnmed against something metal, which clattered onto the floor. "chingaclo!"
came a muffled yoice. U drew back and swung,
ond thiy time my arw scraped hard agoinst the flesh of a face and the bastard
vinggered backworw hix grip
Loosening. - twisted away ana dropped to the floor to begin searching for what had
fallen. surely Ub way aw
pistol. the marble way colo against my bere army as L swept my handy atrosy the
floor. thew v raw

my fingers down the edge of the stair. and there Ut was, ow the furst step. my Left
hand closed

around the cold barrel of aw awtomatic. U Wtfted Ut to my right, grosping the

plastic grip, not entively sure
whet & should do with it. but ot Least - hada gum. tad never actually held a reat

one before, but Ub was heavy and v assumed iF was ready to fire. - was halfway down
the first

set of stairs, ow my way to the lending, when ¢ felt an arm Hip around my neck, U
ducked
and twisted away, stumbling down the last three or four steps, and landed on my
feet, staggering back against the
wall fo regaiw my belance. all v kmew wor, the nent vtepy loomed somewhere to my
right. just a few

more feet... but he wos there again, moving between me and the final stairs. get
around him,

v fol myself, but at that moment he grabbed me at the waist. danting in the dark,
but the swirl

had no- musi and no suring, just o quick, dizzying pirouette. - aimed the pistol as
close ay & comla

to his face and pulled the hard metal trigger. "mierdel" blinding light, a face
lost in the burst of flame,

viory Filling my head. the fiery explosion tongued out past his ean Like w
brilliant word of redy ano yellows,
sending a round of f into space. the noise Left a ringing iw my eary and
multicolored huey yuttering acrosy my
eyes Ub hit me who td just seen. wos ramos. with a quit shut: the flash of my

pistol had given me the advantage for o second, since i knew it way coming, and
with thet edge &

swung ow elbow acrosy hin chim, then kneed him in the groin. U srouli have beew
enough to bring him
doww, but instead he merely sank to one knee and redoubled his grip. hey, t
thought, maybe vt know something
he doen t. how to take a foll. Uo seen enough movie vunty to know whet you re
supposed

to do. Ud be risky, but UL knew v wasn t going to wi @ wrestling moteh. - opened

up with the automotic, furing everywhere ageiw and agoiw and agoin, getting off fe
rounds iw a crescendo of light
ant sounds, Like a huge firecracker in my hand, enough to Uuminete the vioirwell
ike aw virobe andl cote him
off guard. iw thet fleeting moment - dipped a foot behind his ankle and shoved. i
think t yelled as

v felt myself being pulled forword. then v realized he war wearing a heavy bracelet
thet had tangled iw my
hatr. Uo been planning to roll down the remeining vlatry, protecting my head, and
Let him bounce, but the
pull of hin bracelet ruined Ut. v felt myself being swept into empty space, my guy
flying away. thew something
glonced off my face, the wooden banister of the vaiy, whith hao mysteriously come
up to meet me. U turned
and felt hix boily beneath mine, army flailing, a soft landing, HLL we rolled anol
v was beneath him again.

v struck out, o right fist, and he fell away, his bracelet disentangling ay he
tumbled farther doww the vairy.
then t rose and tried to take a step, but U wasn tihere. iw the pitch dark the
angle

was wrong, off by just inches, anal as toppled forward into- empty space L reacheol
out, taking a handful

of dork ain. finally v felt something clenching my wrist, and the next thing v knew
v way being swung

around, Utwiusted sideways one last time, but then my head hit the well. the hard
marble cought me just
above the ear, and v sour the dorknesy of the space grow brilliantly light, thew
transmute to vibrant colors.