He prayed that the engines weren't too cold, and even as the durastone floor of the yard split jarringly beneath him and swallowed a dozen men, he punched the Lift stud and the small vehicle rose heavily into the air.
Cold, of course. No ... engine-heat almost normal. Then—
"Sorry, Master Kane."
And that was all he heard. There was an awful, sudden pain in his head and then he felt nothing else.
VI
Deanne saw the panel blinking EMERGENCY EXIT too late, and her momentary hesitation at the cross corridor spelled an abrupt finis to her desperate attempt. The lone guard who otherwise would never have seen her brought his springbow up with a look of dazed astonishment on his bearded features, and she froze.
"Don't—please!"
"How did you escape?" He moved closer, springbow was cocked taut.
"My—my cell door. For some reason it failed to shut properly, and I—I—"