Creatures of Snow Read Online Free PDF Page A

in.
    The woman, Ruth rolled her eyes and tilted
her head. ”Ha, ha. Very funny. Do I detect a little Earth humor
there?” She looked down at Sky’s badge, “So you’ve been to Haigon
then…Mr. Levit?”
    Sky let his most charming smile distract
her, “Of course. Our research has taken us to many strange and
exotic lands.”
    Ruth shook her head, on the verge of another
eye roll, before abruptly turning a corner. “Right.” She continued
to lead them forward at a brisk pace, staying ahead of a group of
white coats. “To be honest, I thought you two might have just snuck
in, being that you’re both so young and,” she glanced back and did
a once over of them, “un-groomed.”
    Al wrinkled his nose when she turned back
around and mouthed the word ‘un-groomed’ with a look of insult to
Sky.
    “ But, it takes all kinds.
I should have guessed you were TLD’s.” She paused by a door that
blended seamlessly into the wall. The only indication of the door
was the handle. Ruth wrapped her fingers around the smooth metal,
throwing back an extensive smile, “In any case, you two are in for
a treat, this year they got Dr. Manix for the Preview, and yeah, he
gives the best lectures.”
    They entered a large,
multi-level auditorium, with stadium style seating that was already
filled to the brim with scientists and researchers. For the second
time that day Sky was taken aback by the building. It didn’t seem
possible that a room that size could fit inside REALM.“I didn’t
know there were this many people at REALM.” Al whispered, “This
place is huge!”
    “ Huge is barely the right
word.” Sky didn’t disguise the wonder in his tone.
    “It’s because of the
Origin of course,” Ruth pointed down a few rows, “There, I see some
empty seats.”
    “ Did many of the
researches from your branch come?” Al asked, his eyes scanning the
room, no doubt memorizing the faces of the scientists. Al never
forgot a face, a trait that had proven helpful more than a few
times.
    “Oh, everybody came, are
you kidding? This is history in the making from what I hear. This
isn’t going to be your normal Annual Preview, no sir.” Ruth said
dropping down into one of the seats “All those years of experiments
and research, it was all for this. It’s the dawn of a new
era.”
    “ Do we have good timing or
what?” Al whispered in a low voice taking a seat next to
Ruth.
    “ And Dr. Manix always puts
on a good show.” Ruth smiled and took a moment to look around the
room as well.
    Sky settled into a
surprisingly comfortable seat at the end of the row, when he looked
over to Ruth he inadvertently, caught her staring at
him.
    “Did you know this stage
is part of the original amphitheater that used to stand on this
very spot? Everything is still here; they just built around the
broken structure and underground caverns.” She blurted out with a
nervous laugh.
    “ Interesting.” Al probably
didn’t really hear what she was saying as he continued to look
around the room.
    Sky had heard her though, and didn‘t hide
his surprise. “An amphitheater, you mean like the one in Green
Springs on Athlesis? But, those are gigantic…” but, so was this
room.
    “ Oh yes,” Ruth leaned
forward to see around Al, “Like I had said before, the Origin makes
it possible,” She narrowed her eyes at him.
    “ I knew that.” He looked
away quickly, clenching his fist.
    “The largest and oldest
dimensional portal, the Origin, and they built REALM around it.” Al
mumbled, half listening, his eyes still making their way from face
to face. “It’s got the mass equivalent of a black hole, so even the
best charms and seals can’t contain all that energy. My guess is
that those small leaks from the Origin are what allow this building
to bend the rules a bit when it comes to space and time…among other
things.” Al finished, not completely aware he was thinking out
loud.
    Sky knew their ruse was
up. There was no way anyone associated with