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blaze of brilliance, and, in turn, these supergalaxies moved in their own
circular orbits around still larger and more distant points. . . .
What could hold and pull even mega-galaxies as they also flew apart from one
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Marathon%202%20-%20The%20Run%20to%20Chaos.txt another into the void, still
fleeing after all these billions of years from the great explosion that had
created them?
There was no time, no space, in this place, for one point was as close or as
far as any other to them, and as alien. This was the place into which the
great crystals folded and unfolded, Linking any spot with any other, as the
perfect resonances of the great crystals made them One in this place, which
was not of the universe they knew, yet at once was all of it
That was what the Operators did; those Quintara imprisoned in then-
near-transparent mausoleums could subtly alter the resonances, reshape the
folds, so that any point of exit was the same as another, that any crystal
could become any other, for they all joined in this one, bizarre plane.
This, men, had been no random journey; this had been a guided tour.
about both of us. Their hypno did it to you! It was a trick!>
The truth broke through the spell that had held her in the other plane, but
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not here, where all were equal.
deserved burial>
together in this place. Watch it!>
The fabric rippled from below and from a hidden pocket spidery tentacles of
perfect blackness outlined in bright electric yellow lashed out for her. She
swerved at the Durquist's warning cry and barely missed being snared.
Where are we? What is this place? What are those things that seek us out?>
place, a place we can normally only touch here and there. It may well be the
place through which our space drives travel, circumventing the speed limit of
light, which is why so many of the early spacer families were sensitized to it
and gained access to at least a tiny part of its power. Our bodies lay
sleeping, but bodies are fragile things bound to the four-dimensional
universe. Surrounded by the crystals, our minds are sensitized to this plane
and freed to roam it, unfettered by any of the physical laws of the universe
we know and which bind us.>
He paused a moment, admiring his own poetic leaps, then added,
that might be all crap, and this something else entirely.>
Modra exclaimed happily. Only the Durquist would find it
impossible not to be cynical about even himself.
he responded.
The patterns took a sudden bend and intertwined, creating a near tunnel-like
effect, going what seemed to be down, if that word had any real meaning here.
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she cried fearfully, noting that the place of
darkness now seemed to fill the great voids in the helix-like energy tartan,
making it harder and harder to dodge their grasp.
There is no way to forever dodge those loathsome presences! If nothing else,
it ends below where all is darkness!>
Kalia cried out to them.
on the edge of nothingness! It is just as the Master said!>
Tobrush warned.
too close, the presences will take you and eat you alive for eternity if you
try for it now!>
It was a beautiful, if strange, alien city that lay before them, just below
the narrowest points. Multi-level, in a broad spiral just as the helix itself
was a spiral, its great buildings and broad avenues seen in outline via the
colors of the tartans, and rising through all the levels a great and perfect
pyramid outlined in shining gold.
Kalia exclaimed, but on this plane all were empaths, as all
were telepaths and all the other great powers known as Talents and more
besides, and they knew that even Kalia feared that darkness.
us by turning back with us! You fear showing any weakness! But it is not
weakness to hold and turn back! It is no more a weakness to do that than to
seek cover in a gun battle! And being swallowed up by those things lurking
there purely out of pride is like exposing yourself to a clear shot by an
enemy! Don't let fear drive you to attempt the unattainable! Turn back!>
Blackness tinged with crackling energy reached out for her, not on one side
but on all sides, and it was with great difficulty and skill that she
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maneuvered through them and managed a curve and was now heading back toward
the top of the helix.
Still, slight tendrils of the evil lightly brushed her, and the shock of the
power she felt just in that brush, of the near omnipotence those presences
represented, was like an ultimate seduction, and for just a moment she
wavered, before continuing on up.
Jimmy McCray felt the Mycohlians pass him, as a chill wind rippling through
his soul.
Grysta called excitedly.
It's beautiful!>
He pulled up hard when he saw the city below and the path to it.
It's not heaven, it's Satan's city! It is great Dis at the center of Hell
itself! You can not reach it! Not this way! This way is eternal damnation!>
gonna go back. Jimmy! I can't go back! I can't!>
owe me that much at least!>
but as two wholes, apart! Listen to Them, Jimmy! Hear Their-whispered
promises! They swear it!>
His pleas were unanswered.
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file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20The%20Quintara%20
Marathon%202%20-%20The%20Run%20to%20Chaos.txt when I'm free for the first time
in my existence. You always did say you wanted to be free of me. You won't
die. Not if I'm not there to hold on!>
anything you want! Just turn now! It's almost too late!>
He couldn't tell if she made it or not, for suddenly he found himself being
pulled violently backward at impossible speeds, passing them, passing them
all, and screaming, screaming. . . .
Modra felt his intense agony as Jimmy passed; they all did.
the Durquist shouted to her.
needs me. Follow along! If we can get back before your new friends do, you
might be able to escape them! They must be in the crystal cave as well!>
rest! What purpose was it to bring us here if we cannot return ?> He wished he
was as confident of that as he was trying to sound.
haven't sensed Molly much at all since the beginning. I don't know where she
is. Poor thing! She wouldn't have the sense to have any control in here!>
The Mizlaplanians were beginning to ask the same questions about one of their
own.
Morok asked.
Krisha tried to contact him with a mental net and failed.
sensed him with us at the beginning, but not after. 1 hope he wasn't too
curious for his own good!>
Manya noted.
seem to be trying a return from this place where even the gods do not look.
Our prayers are returned mocked, as travesties, the evil ones beckon to us,
and we alone are responsible for our immortal souls! We must return if we
can!>
Morok had a sudden realization that Chin wasn't the only one missing.
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is
Modra? She was down and then she darted off on her own!>
Krisha told him.
no longer hold her in here.>
Morok realized suddenly.
fiction we have kept up to this point. I will have to blank her memory
completely if I
get the chance.>
Krisha suddenly sped up, going away from the city.
One, where we were?> "
Manya added.
place. If any of them awaken and find our entranced forms, we will have no
bodies to re-enter!>
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