第14节

t a thousand feet above the

plain below. The flat top of the rock was just large enough to hold

the table and the tubular metal chairs. The slightest backward

movement by anyone would cause them to topple over the edge!

Oh, shit... Steve sneaked a quick glance down at the terrifying drop

then decided this was one demonstration he could have done without. He

had no fear of heights when flying but being perched precariously on

the edge of a sheer drop made him feel quite sick. This isn't

happening, he told himself. I'm sitting in a hospital ward on the top

deck of a wagon train. But his mind told him otherwise. The sky, the

breeze, the pinnacle of red rock was real. And so was the giddying

force that was drawing him like a magnet towards the plain below!

Mastering the impulse to throw himself into the void, Steve slid his

hands carefully across the table. His first idea was to secure himself

by grabbing hold of Roz's wrists but as his right hand brushed across

her left hand he received a violent electric shock which threw his arm

in the air.

Fortunately the jolt twisted him sideways and not backwards. He

managed to get his left hand over the far edge. There wasn't a lot of

room because everyone around the table had had the same idea.

Don't panic, Brickman. Nothing's going to happen to you. Your little

sister is just showing this bunch of assholes what she can do...

Steve heard a strangled cry from Nevill's end of the table. Looking

between the heads and over the outstretched arms of his companions, he

saw the reason for Nevill's distress. The pinnacle of rock had two

points.

Nevill's chair was poised on top of the second, smaller peak, about six

feet away from the table. The top was just wide enough to hold the

base of the chair. Nevill sat there, rigid with terror, clutching the

seat, with his feet hanging in the air. Just looking at him made Steve

even worse than before.

He closed his eyes and tried to contact his kin-sister.

Okay, Roz, you've made your point. Now get us out of this

nightmare...

'Hey, guys! Please! Help me!" Nevill's gruff, macho delivery had

dissolved into a strangled bleat.

Are you kidding? One false move and we'll all be over the fucking

edge.

Nevill's voice became a shrill squawk. 'Aaghh! AAghh' AAGHH!" Steve

forced himself to look in his direction. The top of the second rock

needle had started to crumble. Nevill's chair was tilting over

backwards. The mex didn't dare lean forward for fear of overbalancing

in the other direction.

He was frozen to the chair, eyes bulging, his open mouth twitching

grotesquely in horrified anticipation-Steve glimpsed the rubber sole of

Nevill's boots rise into the air then shut his eyes as the chair went

over, pitching the mex into the void. The sound of Nevill's scream

made his blood run cold-There was a heavy thump and a crash of metal.

The breeze which had been buffeting Steve's face ceased abruptly. He

opened his eyes and saw Roz looking at him. The table was back in the

hospital ward but those seated around her could not quite believe it.

They looked at each other, stunned, speechless, then all eyes went to

Nevill's end of the table. His chair lay on the floor; Nevill was

sprawled on his back beside it. Ray Hannah and Daryl Coates, the mex

on Steve's left, righted his chair and helped him to his feet.

Nevill was shaking uncontrollably and there was a spreading dark patch

around the crotch of his fatigues where he had fouled himself. He

gripped the table to steady himself as Hannah and Coates eased him back

into the chair. 'Christo! I had the most terrible -' He broke off as

he saw their tense faces. 'Wh-what happened?!" 'Good question..." To

judge by Wallis' total lack of colour, he'd had a bad trip - like

everyone else. He eyed Roz nervously, and when he spoke, his voice

wavered.

'Thank you. Yes... that was, uhh. most instructive.

I had no, uhh -' He cleared his throat and in doing so, forced his

voice up half an octave. 'Why don't the two of you check on how your

patient is doing, while we, uhh...?"

'Of course,' said Roz.

The task force watched in total silence as Steve followed her out.