[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"Are you certain?"
"Decker, it's been two years. If anything was going to happen, it would have
happened by now. So, let me get back to my story. After the vandals destroyed
my lab, I had to go back and reorganize all my notes. As I did, it became more
and more clear to me that the AIDS virus was really the best medium to use as
the carrier. Actually, those vandals probably saved me months of unproductive
research.
"Think of it, Decker. Fifteen years ago it looked like AIDS could be on its
way to being as bad as the Black Plague; and by some time
110 In His Image in the next decade it may, combined with the C-cells, be
the source of virtual immortality!"
By the time Decker and Goodman finished their conversation, Elizabeth, Mrs.
Goodman, Hope and
Louisa had returned from their walk and retreated to the patio for iced tea.
They had talked long enough to find that they liked each other's company.
After the Goodmans left, Elizabeth told
Decker how much she enjoyed talking with Martha and that Martha had suggested
that she come along with Decker next time he went to Los Angeles.
"Well," said Decker, pleased that his wife was pleased, "I'm glad you two hit
it off. She really is a nice person. And as far as you coming along, I'd like
that too. So what did you two talk about?" he asked.
"Well, mostly we talked about you and how wonderful it is to have you back.
But, let's see ... We talked about Professor Goodman. Did you know he's been
notified that in December he's going to receive the Nobel Prize for medicine
for his cancer research?"
tcYou're kidding!" Decker said. "He didn't even mention it."
"That's why they were here in Washington. He was invited to address the annual
convention of the
American Cancer Society."
"I can see I've got a lot of catching up to do," Decker said. "So what else
Page 67
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
did you talk about?"
"Well, she told me all about her grandnephew, Christopher. She's very proud of
him. He's apparently a very precocious child. Oh, and this is kind of
interesting: Martha said that two weeks ago she and Professor Goodman were
talking about you. He had this important story  I guess what he came over to
tell you about today  and apparently he was reluctant to give it to another
reporter even though, at the time, you were still being held hostage. But 
and this is the strange part  as they were talking about it, her grandnephew,
Christopher, came over and just sort of matter-of-factly said that Professor
Goodman should wait because you'd be free soon. She said she asked him about
it later and he said he wasn't sure how he knew; he just had a feeling."
Chapter 10
Disaster
A light rain began to fall and Decker found himself running, awkwardly making
his way through the tall grass and trying to avoid the thistles and wild
blackberry bushes. Home and safety from the impending storm were just over the
next hill. In his determination he was totally unaware of the strange feeling
of being in a small body not yet eight years old.
The storm clouds had gathered quickly and for a while it seemed they might
disappear the same way.
But as the rain began to fall, the promise of a cloudburst of Noahic
proportions seemed to declare itself with the first sudden clap of distant
thunder.
As he ran, Decker's nerves twinged with the fear of the somehow inevitable
turn of events which he knew was about to befall him. It seemed ... it seemed
he had done this all before. There was something in his path; something to
fear. But what? Then suddenly the earth disappeared from beneath his feet.
"
Decker's hands flew up above his head as he grabbed at the moist thick air,
trying desperately,
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...Trilogy%20(3)/01%20-%20In%20His%
20Image.txt (62 of 213) [12/24/2004 11:46:52 PM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/BeauSeigneur,...e%20Christ%
20Clone%20Trilogy%20(3)/01%20-%20In%20His%20Image.txt instinctively, to slow
his descent. Suddenly he felt the earth again as his stomach and chest slammed
into a wall of dirt and slipped along a rough incline that threatened to
swallow him. The blow had knocked the wind out of him, but before he could
catch his breath, a sudden sharp pain surged through him as
111
112 In His Image dozens of odd-shaped protrusions scraped against his body,
tearing his shirt and pulling it up over his head as he slid down the incline.
His hands, still grasping, caught a tangled mass of small fibers which quickly
slipped away but were replaced by one more solid and firm. In shock he hung
there, motionless.
Moments passed and Decker began to carefully pull himself upward, hoping that
his hold would not fail under the strain. Raising himself a few inches, he
worked his shirt back down over his head and shoulders. Now able to survey his
condition, he found that he was holding onto a tree root about an inch in
diameter. Near tears, he slowly turned his head and looked down. In horror he
realized his imagination had not exaggerated the danger. Below him the hole
continued for about thirty feet and then narrowed and veered off.
He closed his eyes and thought of the previous summer when he had first heard
of such holes. He and his cousin Bobby had been riding two of his uncle's
mules in the field north of the milk barn.
Bobby brought him to a spot in the field where an old hay wagon had been left
sitting long enough for the grass and the purple-flowered thistles to grow up
around it. Bobby, who had been riding bareback, lifted his leg and slid off
the side of the mule.
Page 68
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"C'mon," he said as he tied the twine of the mule's homemade reins through a
rusted iron eye on the wagon. There was a sense of adventure in his voice and
Decker was quick to follow.
"Be careful, now," Bobby cautioned as he began to inch his way slowly toward
the edge of a hole in the ground on the other side of the wagon. Decker
followed Bobby's lead and was soon standing on the edge of the hole looking
down.
"Man, that's deep," Decker said. "What is it?"
"A sink hole," Bobby answered.
"A what?"
"A sink hole. It goes on forever," Bobby said authoritatively.
"Aw, that's crazy," Decker responded. "I can see the bottom."
"That's not the bottom, it's just where it turns off in another direction."
Bobby gave a slight tug to Decker's shirt and the pair moved to the other side
of the hole. "See down there," Bobby said as he pointed to what had appeared
to be the bottom of the shaft. Decker couldn't tell how far it went, but he
could see that the shaft continued off in the other direction. He squatted
down to get a better look but there simply wasn't enough light to see any
farther. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

qus.htw.pl