Eternity's Edge Read Online Free PDF

dangerous!”
    Nathan, now breathing rapidly, played with all his might. Of course he wanted to be with his parents, but falling into a timeless vortex along the way would end their journey forever. Still, this might be their only chance to find them. Didn't they have to try? He heaved a loud grunt. If only someone else would make this decision!
    Holding the violin case in one hand, Kelly put her other hand on Nathan's back. “Clara! It's your call! What do you say?”
    Clara stood next to Dr. Gordon, who typed madly at the keyboard. “Are you both willing to take the risk?” she asked.
    “I am!” Kelly pressed Nathan's back. “You?”
    He gave a quick nod and played on.
    Clara pointed at Daryl. “Hit it!”
    “No!” Dr. Gordon screamed, red-faced and still typing. “This is not your observatory, nor your equipment! I will not allow you to die on my watch!”
    Daryl flipped the switch. The perimeter lights flashed on.
    Dr. Gordon hit a final key with a commanding stroke. A chaotic array of colors splashed across the ceiling mirror, and the music shifted to Dvořák's
New World Symphony
.
    White beams shot out from the trumpet-shaped lamps and collected at the apex of the dome. Dozens of shafts of light rebounded toward the floor and surrounded Nathan and Kelly with a glowing picket fence.
    The scene in the mirrored ceiling reshaped into a reflection of the observatory room floor, a reflection that showed Clara and Daryl, but not Dr. Gordon, Nathan, or Kelly. The image melted and slid down the picket fence's vertical shafts until everything outside of their laser prison vanished.
    Within a few seconds, their surroundings reappeared— the same floor, the same telescope, though tilted at a slightly different angle, and the same Clara and Daryl. Nathan slowed his playing and squinted at them. Or were they the same?
    His arms feeling like rags, he lowered his violin and let his shoulders droop. “We're on Earth Blue, aren't we?”
    Daryl sashayed toward them, flipping her hair back in mock offense. “Well! Don't act so disappointed!”
    Nathan dropped to the floor and sat, his face buried in his hands. “We were close! So close!”
    A voice came down from above. “No, you were not close.”
    Nathan looked up at the ceiling. Dr. Gordon, appearing upside-down in the reflection and standing near the telescope in the Earth Red observatory, stared down at him. “The signal emanating through the cosmic wound dissipated just as I was switching you over to Earth Blue. You and Kelly would have been thrown into a vacuum, where you would have died instantly.”
    Nathan probed Daryl Blue's eyes. He could no longer speak. If he tried, he would cry for sure. So he asked the question with his gaze, hoping Daryl would figure it out. Was Dr. Gordon telling the truth?
    Daryl stooped and looked Nathan in the eye. “I watched the whole thing from my computer. You and Kelly would be sparkling space dust by now, and I don't think anyone would name a star after you.”
    Nathan glanced up at Dr. Gordon again, but he was walking toward the desk, shaking his head.
    Daryl reached down her hand. “Looks like you could use a lift.”
    “In more ways than one.” Nathan took her hand and rode her hefty pull to his feet.
    Kelly raised the violin case. “I got this at the last minute. Want to pack up?”
    While Nathan put the violin away, Daryl Blue hugged Kelly briefly, then pulled back. “Take a good look, Kelly-kins,” she said, tugging on her collar. “My shirt is blue, through and through. Daryl Red and I decided to be color coded.”
    “I can see that,” Kelly said, squinting. “Barely.”
    “Oh, yeah. Forgot about your run-in with the evil eye snatcher.”
    “Daryl!” Clara Blue marched up behind her, wagging her finger. “Watch your tongue, young lady. Kelly's vision is not a joking matter.”
    “Don't worry about it, Ms. Jackson,” Kelly said. “I've put up with Daryl Red for years. I once broke my wrist in a basketball