Numbly, he stared down at them. "Then—it was real—no optical illusion—"
"Real? Of course it was real!" This from the half-hysterical ensign. "I saw it all—the woman, the dragon! If I'd been two seconds later with the blaster, it would have got you!"
Boone slumped against the wall. "That thing—"
A muffled crash of sound from the lift-shaft cut in on him. Red lights flashed on the call-board.
"Third level—!" The ensign's voice rang raw with tension.
"Come on!" Boone lunged for the lift.
Together they plummeted downward ... stumbled out into a murky, smoke-eddying third level passage.
More slime, purple this time, and a man with a blaster.
Only he hadn't fired quite quick enough. He sprawled dead on the floor-plates, his chest torn wide open as if by talons.