Fantastic Voyage: Microcosm Read Online Free PDF

Ninjas. Between takes, Tomiko had climbed fossil tree trunks that were thousands of years old. These blackened stumps before her were less than a billionth the size of those ancient trees…
    “Carbon fibers,” Tomiko said. “A dust speck contaminant left in the deposition process. Let's do a little excavating, see if that improves the conductivity.”
    Tomiko uncoiled her ropes, kneeling at the edge of the soft metal cliff. With a few smacks from her geological specimen hammer, she pounded grappling hooks into the gold surface, one line for her, one for Wilcox.
    Securing a laser cutter to his hip, the captain commandeered a rope and lowered himself over the edge, as light as a bit of fluff on the wind. “I'll take the big one.” Grinning, he swayed out over the chasm and let himself drop.
    Wilcox had gotten himself a high-level security clearance on a whim. Tomiko suspected the young captain fantasized about covert operations and Black Program secrets. Being isolated inside a mountain lab was perhaps not the commando work Wilcox had been imagining, but being one of the world's first micro-explorers was certainly exciting enough.
    Moving with meticulous slowness, Dr. Pirov busied himself with his own equipment, setting up leads and contacts. “I will check it from up here.”
    Tomiko rappelled down the circuit cliff, holding her weight with just a finger touch on the guy wire. She swung across, widening her arc, until she could grab the second Sequoia-sized carbon fiber with her feet.
    Ready to get to work, she unslung her laser and pulled a dust mask over her nose and small chin. Narrowing her almond eyes, she pointed the cutter beam and melted gold around the embedded carbon fiber. Yellow metal flowed like butter, loosening its hold around the containment. Then, feeling like a lumberjack, she sliced into the crystalline charcoal.
    When Pirov was ready to test, he sent another sonic boost rippling through the circuit path. Dislodged ebony flakes floated in the air. As the echoes and tremors died down, Wilcox's big chunk of carbon impurity broke free. He nearly lost his balance, but caught on to a rugged hunk of dust, then swung on his guy rope. Crumbling black diamonds fell away like black snow, leaving a scar in the gold. The tiny fiber tumbled ever so slowly toward the substrate far below.
    “First one's clear.” He sounded as if he had been racing her. Tomiko kept working on the second protrusion.
    Pirov's voice came over the suit radio. “My sonic trace picked up those inclusions, but they are too small to hinder current flow.”
    “Great,” Tomiko said. “Now that we've already done the work.”
    “Think of it as practice, Tomiko,” Wilcox said.
    “Secure yourself and keep grounded, both of you,” Pirov warned. “Stay away from the metal. I am sending an electron pulse to map surrounding terrain.”
    Wilcox swung out on his rope and straddled the blackened carbon trunk of the second impurity next to Tomiko. The carbon smeared his pant legs with soot, but the microscopic particles could not penetrate the miniaturization field and would vanish as soon as he regrew to proper size.
    “Hey, Tomiko, I've seen you making eyes at Major Devlin whenever he isn't looking.” Wilcox leaned close with what he thought was his irresistible smile. Give the guy an inch… “Trying to make me jealous, I think.”
    “Not a chance.”
    He misunderstood her answer. “What's wrong with Devlin? He's Air Force, and so was his dad— he's okay.”
    Tomiko marveled at how simple and straightforward the man's life must be. “Retired Air Force, and I wouldn't make a move on him. Not until he's ready.”
    “Ready? How many years is he going to wait? His wife died… what, five years ago? I don't see him moping around and grieving for her all the time.”
    Tomiko rolled her dark eyes. “You don't see much of anything, Garrett. Obviously, you've never had a genuine emotional attachment.”
    “Thank you.”
    “That's why I'm