"We're in far enough for protection from bits of flying metal but not too far to dig ourselves out if the roof should collapse—I hope," Zen answered.
Somewhere outside a man screamed, in terror.
The thing in the sky coughed again, closer now. BRRROOOMMM——BrrroooMMM——BrOOOm!
The blooper struck.
The sound was that of the simultaneous firing of many cannon. The walls of the prospect tunnel seemed to twist and wave. Loose stones dropped from the roof and a fine dust seemed to extrude from the walls. A boulder half as big as a small house hurtled past the entrance, snapping pines like matchsticks. A slide of loose rocks followed it. In the distance another slide could be heard growling back at the sky as it grew to avalanche proportions.
The nurse's fingers tightened on Zen's arm, then relaxed. Every nerve in his body was as taut as a steel wire as he waited for her reaction. Other than the tightening and relaxing of her fingers, there was none. Her hands remained on his arm and she remained in the tunnel with him. To Kurt Zen, this was disappointing.
"What kind of nerves do you have? Most women would have been in my arms and would have had their noses buried in my chest."
"I'm sorry, colonel, if my education in how to be afraid has been neglected." She coughed at the dust.
"Aren't you really afraid, Nedra?" he asked.
"No."