The Black Seas of Infinity Read Online Free PDF

time is long
gone, the hope and ambition had faded into the desperation of
middle age, the uncomfortable inevitability of death lurking just
around the corner.
    After about twenty minutes the road opened
into a semi-circle. Beyond a wall of trees, I could make out a
warehouse ahead. I rolled into the thicket, spinning the wheel. I
was lumbering through a thin grove now, the overhanging cover
giving way to a half-mile-wide depression, its rugged base a
labyrinth of a thousand tiny reflections. Just beyond lay the long,
dark parking lot, crowned at the far end by a cluster of buildings.
I leaned forward and strained to look at the gully in front of me.
It was a maze of water-carved ridges, barely visible in the gloom.
None of the fissures were deep, but they were complexly detailed, a
miniature Grand Canyon. I shifted the transfer case into 4 lo and
gently edged the Jeep into the canals. Pitching back and forth, I
glanced around nervously, my forehead beaded with sweat. There was
a more direct route, I was sure, but it was probably guarded.
Policies changed all the time, and it was better not to raise
suspicion. Since the 82nd Airborne was based here, the complex
hardly got questioned. When it did, all the secrecy was assumed to
apply to some new spy plane.
    After a short drive through the rainwater
trenches I was on concrete. Everything looked fairly deserted, so I
assumed the high command was in another lull, retaining only a
skeleton crew. I shifted back into two-wheel drive and headed
across the empty lot. Rolling up to the warehouse, I spun the wheel
to the left and crept along the wall, following the crude barrier
of concrete toward the distant iridescence. The tension was
oppressive, my breath emanating in shallow gusts. I could feel the
sharpness and fidgety high of adrenaline coursing through my veins.
So close. A trickle of sweat slowly rolled down my forehead.
    The wall ended. The only illumination came
from a solitary light pole a few feet away, its soft yellow haze a
beacon in the surrounding blackness. I swerved into the muted glow
and parked, sloppily and mere inches from the wall. In front of me
the coarse barricade of manmade stone abutted a metal rim, the
weaker concrete yielding to the steel as it flowed around a
doorframe. I turned off the driving lights, climbed out of the
Jeep, and hoped my key still worked. I was prepared for almost
anything, but I could use a stroke of luck. The portal was an
ordinary slab of painted metal, imperceptibly nestled among the
endless blocks.
    Beyond it were the keys to the kingdom.
Miracle of miracles, my key worked! I turned it sideways and
pulled. A slight creak, a gust of stale air, and a black hole
yawned open beyond. My eyes adjusted slowly, and I could make out a
long corridor. Florescent lights glimmered faintly from around a
corner off to the left. The meager illumination offered glimpses of
bare concrete walls and scuffed white tile flooring. The right side
disappeared into blackness, and if I remembered correctly, that was
the route I wanted.
    I slowly guided the door closed behind me,
stumbling off into the dark and raising my hand to feel along the
wall. After a few minutes the wall suddenly dissolved into a right
turn. I could make out a thin sliver of light emanating from
beneath a door down the passageway. That glow meant someone was
still here, and it wasn’t security. Maybe a scientist working late?
The large room beyond the door was set up as a lab for the study of
organic matter. Not really my area. I wasn’t completely sure, but I
couldn’t afford a mistake. I unbuttoned the holster on my right and
withdrew my .45. Reaching into my rear pocket, I slipped out a
silencer, threading it onto the barrel. I moved slowly forward and
closed in on the door. Reaching out with my left hand, holding the
.45 aloft with my right, I turned the handle and pushed forward.
The bright light streamed around the door jamb, overwhelming my
vision. The sting of harsh