A Sterkarm Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

mundane. You would never have suspected it of holding such technology.
    A large white van was parked on the gravel nearby. Lettering on its side, to Andrea’s surprise, proclaimed it to be from a catering company. In front of it was parked a big, dirty truck that looked as if it was used for heavier business. Around these vehicles, and the office, stood a crowd of waiting people. Despite her curiosity about them, Andrea passed the gathering by, crunching along the gravel path to get a look at the Tube itself. She wanted to see if it had changed.
    It was far more impressive than the shabby office. The vast concrete tube was supported in a cradle of steel girders, all painted a flat blue. A ramp rose from the gravel path to the mouth of the Tube, which was screened by dangling strips of plastic. Vehicles would drive up the ramp and stop on the platform outside the Tube’s mouth. When the green light beside the Tube gave them the signal, they would drive slowly into the Tube as its shrill sound mounted and passed beyond hearing. And somewhere around the middle of the Tube, they passed into another dimension and another time. Half of the Tube punched through into that other dimension and vanished from the 21st. It was said to have “traveled” while the other half “stayed at home.” Utterly miraculous and, at the same time, just technology, like the cell phone in her bag.
    She left the path and went onto the lawn, to look at the Tube from the side. Its whole length was “at home,” and she could clearly see the division between the half that remained always in the 21st and the half that “traveled.” The stationary half was gray with 21st-century dirt and stained with rust, while the traveling half was unmarked and white.
    The last time she had stood here, there had been a battle going on. Well, all right, a skirmish. Whatever you called it, people had been killed. She remembered the huge, sweating, thundering horses, the crunching and thumping of hooves and feet on the gravel, the frantic, panicky running to and fro, the threatening yells and terrified wails, the hacking, the blood. Bryce, the Head of Security, had been beheaded in that skirmish. With a gulp she turned quickly to look behind her, and was only slightly relieved to find the path empty and no threat nearby. Windsor might claim that he never had flashbacks, but for a few moments, feeling increasingly queasy, she wondered if she had the nerve to go through with this …
    Snap out of it, she told herself. Have you come this far—all the misery of parting with Mick and packing and moving and finding a new place—to chicken out now? And unless you go through the Tube, you’ll never see Per again. He just doesn’t do the 21st.
    That wasn’t what she’d said to Mick. She’d talked to him about work. How fascinated she was with research, with the past—she’d told him about the Tube, though swearing him to secrecy. “I had to sign a paper saying I wouldn’t tell anyone about it, so if you tell anyone, you’ll drop me in it.” Mick wouldn’t tell anyone if she asked him not to, she was sure of that. “How many people get this chance?” she’d said to him. “I can’t let it slip. I’ve got to go.”
    â€œIt’s dangerous,” he’d said.
    â€œSo’s crossing the road.” He’d looked glum. “I’ve been there before. I know the risks. I’ll be careful. But I’ve got to go.”
    â€œWell,” he’d said, in the end. “If it makes you happy.”
    He always said that. And meant it. A great feeling of love for him rose up in her as she stood outside the Tube’s office, bringing tears to her eyes. Lovely Mick. Few people would see him as a great catch. He was older than her by nearly fifteen years, and he looked it. He was a bit chubby and had great shaggy eyebrows and thinning hair on his head, but