Drake Snippets
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 31
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 31 "Olfetrie!" someone called from the pit. I couldn't make out individuals in the gloom. Then a different voice, Langland's, called, "Hey, Olfetrie? Can you get me out of here?" "Come along, now," Giorgios said. "We've wasted enough time." I paused. To the chamberlain I said, "How long will they stay in this prison?" "A few days," Giorgios said. "A week at most. They're just useless mouths until they're sold." "You'll be out in a week or less," I shouted into the pit. Then I turned and walked quickly...
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 30
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 30 Giorgios spun to face me, clenching his fists. I was afraid that I might have pushed too hard, but when he spoke it was to say, "For god's sake, do you want to get us both hanged? Keep quiet about this!" "I don't want anybody to be hanged," I said. "If you'll tell me what's going on instead of ordering me around, we'll do a lot better." Giorgios was on the good side -- barely -- of fifty, and he was soft to the point of being fat. He sighed and I realized that the main reason for the bluster was...
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 29
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 29 CHAPTER 18 From my bunk I'd watched the display over Lal's shoulder as the Martinique landed at Salaam. We were coming down in a wide bay fringed by what looked during the approach like sandy beaches. A town sprawled away from the water in a relatively narrow band. There was at least one missile installation near the shoreline. It was raised enough for the afternoon sun to cast a long shadow onto the land. I didn't see any sign of harbor improvements. We landed in the usual rush of steam with...
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 28
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 28 * * * The pirates started taking their helmets off in the airlock in usual fashion. I hesitated to do that, but I decided that regardless of what my shipmates in the cabin were going to do I was better off doing exactly what the pirates did. The leader -- he had a pair of red-dyed bird plumes glued to his helmet -- wore a holstered pistol, and knives dangled from the bandoliers of the other two. The leader had a goatee. I smiled at him and said, "I'm Roy Olfetrie. What happens next?" The pirate...
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 27
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 27 CHAPTER 17 "So what're we supposed to do now?" Wellesley said. "We can't enter the atmosphere with an antenna up or the stresses'll tear the ship apart!" He sounded like he meant the question rather than just faking stupid to be nasty, though "being nasty" was generally a good bet with Wellesley. I said, "We put the original cable back on the antenna. I've completed the splice except for spraying the adhesive, and we'd need to do that in vacuum anyway." I started putting a suit on. Wellesley said,...
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 26
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 26 When the hatch had closed behind me and Langland in the airlock, I said, "What's the story about the other two?" He frowned. "Glance and Bodo, no story," he said. "They don't speak much Standard, but they're good spacers. I'm not sure where they come from. Never much cared, to tell the truth." I wondered what he paid them. As little as he could, and that was probably less than a spacer with a better grasp of Standard would've gotten. I wouldn't have called them "good spacers," but I was comparing...
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 25
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 25 CHAPTER 16 I didn't exactly wake up, but I came around enough to realize that somebody was shaking me and shouting, "Get up, numbnuts!" The High Drive was on. The buzz made my brain tremble. I didn't know where I was; I wasn't sure who I was. It occurred to me that I might be dead and in Hell. "Get up, you little shit!" Water splashed in my face. A second voice said, "Hey, watch the bunk, Wellesley." There was a rope tethering my thighs to the bunk. My eyes didn't work right; I saw a blur lean close...
Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 24
Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 24 Mom and Dad didn't talk about me. There wasn't anything really to talk about. I did my schoolwork and played sports without making waves. I wasn't bad or even mediocre, but I wasn't right at the top either. There just wasn't much to say. Maeve started asking me about working in the Matrix, then. I guess I babbled to her because it was all new to me too. I hadn't gotten far enough in the Academy to have real experience on the hull after insertion. Astrogation was more important to a career as an...