James Axler - Deathlands 032 - Circle Thrice

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/* /*]] */ Axler, James - Deathlands 32 - Circle Thrice Krysty tugged gently .

The bell tolled immediately, its booming note echoing across the morning's stillness.

"Leave it," Ryan snapped. "Want to rouse the whole bastard country against us?"

He noticed something lying on top of the altar. It was a multi-thonged whip, with tiny metal barbs knotted

into each lash. All of them were stiff and stained black with what looked like old, dried blood. A sense of

threatening danger became much stronger.

"Come on," he called. "Something's not right about this place. It's not a proper church. Let's get out before

someone comes and brings trouble."

Neither of them heard the door whisper open, but they both recognized the audible click of the twin

hammers being drawn back on a scattergun.

"Welcome, pilgrims," said a rich, jolly voice.

Circle Thrice

32 in the Deathlands series

James Axler

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was

reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received

any payment for this "stripped book."

This is dedicated to Kathryn, Stevie and Laurie, with all the love I have to give.

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First edition June 1986

ISBN 0-373-62532-4

CIRCLE THRICE

in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented,

including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is

forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. Worldwide Library, 223 Duncan Mill Road,

Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation

whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any

individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with are registered in the United States

Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

Printed In U.S.A.

When Chuck Berry asked long-distance information whether he was through to Memphis, Tennessee, it

was a question that arrowed straight into the heartland of the American myth. While Memphis lives, then

rock and roll will truly never die.

From Trying to Tell a Stranger ,

by Larry "The Fox" Burrell,

published by Banbury Press of Oxford,

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Prologue

The companions' sojourn into the remnants of old Japan had drawn to its inevitable, horrific conclusion.

Ryan and his friends retreated to the house that hid the gateway, intent on making a hasty jump back to

Deathlands.

Ryan led the way toward the airlock door, through and along to the elevator.

"Where are we going to put the grens?" J. B. Dix, the Armorer, asked.

"They've only got 20-second timers, haven't they? Not all that long."

The Armorer nodded. "Right. We don't really know how long it takes for a jump to be properly initiated.

Feels like thirty seconds or so before we become unconscious. Might be a deal more than that before we

actually get to jump out of there."

"Grens could go off while we're in midjump," Mildred Wyeth cautioned. "That what you're saying,

John?"

"Right, love. Could put them in the elevator shaft when we're down there. Seal it off tight and also bring

the house down on top of everything."

"That would bury us snugger than a pharaoh in his sarcophagus, would it not?" Doc Tanner asked.

"Sure would," Ryan replied.

"And if something malfunctioned with the mechanism? What then? Then it will be a long goodbye and a

big sleep for us all. As Mr. Chandler would have said."

Ryan didn't know who this Chandler guy was, but Doc had a point.

It could be rather like sawing off a branch that you were sitting on.

"Mashashige won't be invading Deathlands," he said. "Nor will any of his men. Nor his brother."

"But there'll always be someone else who'll find the house and the gateway," Krysty Wroth protested.

Ryan sighed. It was tempting to take the grens with them back to Deathlands, where they could always

find a use. But Krysty was right. Everything that they'd seen in what remained of Japan pointed toward

lethal problems over the next few years. And if the gateway should still function

There was an obvious risk to themselves, but a greater risk for the future if they didn't act now.

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"Use them in the house," he decided. "Last burner and an implode. Last pair of implodes can go up in the

elevator at the final moment before we go to make the jump. We can check that everything seems all right

in the gateway first."

Nobody argued against the plan.

When they stood in front of the elevator, Ryan pushed in the code six, two, eight, three, four and one.

The door slid open and he stepped in, pressing the button to hold it open. "J.B., use your burner and the

implode. Jak, keep yours for the last minute. Set them for the full twenty and then get in quick."

The Armorer set the timer on the scarlet-and-blue implode and lobbed it out through the internal door into

the hallway, following it immediately with the burner. Then he closed the doors and stepped smartly into

the elevator.

Ryan pushed the Down arrow and the cage began to drop.

"Quake now and we're deep in the ordure," Mildred commented.

Ryan was looking at his chron, counting down the seconds. It was on eleven when they reached the

bottom of the shaft and the door hissed smoothly open.

As they were entering the mat-trans control area, the tiny digits flickered to twenty.

There was a faint vibration from above them, and a few flakes of plaster fell from the cracked ceiling.

Ryan noticed even at a cursory glance that the control area had suffered from the recent quakes, with

some consoles dark and several ceiling lights off.

One thing that had been worrying him was how they would actually jump to Deathlands, whether the

ordinary Return code would do the trick.

But he noticed something they'd missed on the way out. There was a piece of cardboard taped to the door

by the control panel that listed several American regions.

"Want me to do the last grens?" Jak asked.

"Sure." The earth trembled and another light went off. "Do it now. Krysty, we could copy this list, take it

with us and see if it operates from other gateways. Give us control over where we want to jump to."

Doc shook his head. "I fear, my dear friend, that it would be fruitless. The codes differ from redoubt to

redoubt. I remember that from my time with the whitecoats of Cerberus. Just pick a place and enter it."

Jak Lauren came running back. "Sent them up in elevator," he said. "Got about fifteen. Closed outer door.

Give protection. But should go quick."

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"Right." Ryan scanned the list. "How about Tennessee? Haven't been there for a while."

"Do it lover," Krysty said nervously. "Got a bad feeling that something's going wrong."

Like an echo to her words, they all felt a rumble that made the floor shake.

"Grens," Mildred said hopefully.

Jak sniffed, counting to himself. "Not time. Coming upnow."

Chapter One

They all heard the distinctive roar of the pair of implode grens far above them, though it was muffled by

the sec doors that led into the gateway. The sound was overlaid by the thunder of a quake, the noise all

around them, as if the walls were about to crumble at any second.

"In," Ryan snapped, punching in the digital code for Tennessee. Not waiting for everyone to sit on the

floor of the orange-walled chamber, he stepped in and slammed the door shut to trigger the jump

mechanism.

Everyone knew what to do.

J.B. had taken off his fedora and placed it on his lap, carefully folding his glasses and slipping them

safely into a pocket. The Uzi was in his lap, the scattergun within reach. He held Mildred's hand, and she

reached out for Doc Tanner, who had slowly creaked his way down, laying the ebony swordstick at his

side, stretching out his aged knee boots.

Jak, his red eyes swollen from crying at the sudden and shocking death of the little geisha girl, Issie, sat

next to Doc, pressing his skinny back against the armaglass wall.

The rumble was becoming much louder and more insistent as Ryan finally seated himself beside, Krysty,

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file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2032%20-%20Circle%20Thrice.html/*/*]]*/Axler,James-Deathlands32-CircleThriceKrystytuggedge tly.Thebelltolledimmediately,itsboomingnoteechoingacrossthemorning'sstillness."Leaveit,"Ryansnapped."Wanttorousethewholebast...

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