The Stuff of Nightmares Read Online Free PDF Page B

else? No, it can’t have been. There’d been no movement, no judder, no jolt, no fall. But that noise, like a fireworks factory exploding – what was that? I touched a hand to my ears. No blood.
    But in that instant a shock, needle-sharp like static electricity, shot through my body. A rain of images began, images that burned their way through my mind. I squeezed my eyes tight shut but they wouldn’t stop. Strange, unsettling images. Of Steve. And explosions. Steve with a gun in his hand. Steve eating. Laughing. At someone. With someone. Shouting. Running. A pack on his back, an assault rifle in his hand. Steve in some kind of plane, spinning round and down, hopelessly out of control, while he desperately pressed buttons and pulled at the stick. I was in the middle of this rain of images, looking past one to the next , trying to see my way past all of them. Trying to focus on what was beyond. Trying, but failing … My eyelids felt like lead. The images fell faster and faster. So fast now that I couldn’t discern what any of them were. But they were all to do with Steve.
    And then, just like that, the rain disappeared. And the train disappeared. And the track. And all my friends. There was just Steve in some kind of booth. And silence. Where was I?
    Then Steve began to speak.
    But not to me.

3
    Steve’s Nightmare
    ‘DAD? IT’S STEVE. How are you? How’ve you been?’
    ‘Steve? Steve! How are you? It’s so good to hear your voice. Where are you? Why can’t I see you?’
    ‘Only one of the web-cams is working, Dad. Our division has only just returned to the carrier, so the queue to use it stretches right round the ship. It was use this phone or wait another few days before it was my turn to use the web-cam with a working screen.’
    ‘No, it’s enough just to hear your voice. God, I’ve missed you, son. I’ve been worried sick. Are you all right?’
    ‘I’m fine, Dad.’ Steve smiled again, reaching out a tentative arm towards the blank screen before him. ‘I’ve missed you so much. I just can’t wait to get home.’
    ‘So it’s true? You’re really coming home?’
    ‘The war’s over for me, Dad. Our unit is off rotation. I should be home within the next fortnight.’
    ‘That’s great news. Chris will be thrilled. And wait till I tell Hannah – eh!’
    Steve’s cheeks burned. ‘Dad, stop teasing! Besides, Hannah is probably married with three kids by now. She always said she wanted a big family while she was still young enough to enjoy it.’
    ‘Of course Hannah’s not married. She’s waiting for you. Mind you, if you told her that, she’d laugh in your face, but everyone here knows it’s the truth.’
    ‘Is it, Dad? Is it really?’
    ‘Course it is.’
    ‘Listen, Dad, I can’t stay on the phone for much longer. There’s a time limit on all comms out of this place until further notice. I … I wanted to ask you for a favour though.’
    ‘Go ahead, son.’
    Steve swallowed hard. ‘You’ve met Dean, my copilot. Did you like him?’
    ‘Yes, of course I did.’
    Steve heard the surprise in his father’s voice. He ran a dry tongue over his lips. ‘It’s just that … well, we were shot down while on manoeuvres over—’
    ‘
What?
You were shot down? Are you sure you’re—?’
    ‘I’m fine,’ Steve interrupted. ‘But Dean … but Dean isn’t, Dad. We had top-secret military information to deliver. We were both told that the data came first – nothing else even made it onto the priority list. Dean managed to eject out of our plane with the data, but when it crashed he broke the rules and came back to rescue me. He saved my life.’
    ‘So what’s the matter with him?’
    ‘He … he was shot while he was dragging me clear.’
    ‘Oh no …’
    ‘Exactly. The bullets kept hitting him but he wouldn’t leave me. And then they shot him with some kind of chemical agent which burned straight through his flesh. He’s lost an arm and both of his legs and his face is severely