Genesis Echo (Deathlands 25) by James Axler

So it goes.

Now, he would have backed himself, younger, faster and stronger than Trader. But even now he knew the result wouldn’t be a certainty.

“Who are you and why was my blaster in I’ll be hung, dried and quartered for the crows! But I feel sicker than a gut-shot swampie.”

“It’s meRyan. We made the jump, Trader. Lie still awhile and get over it.”

“I’m fine.” But his eyes were rolling like pin-wheels. He reconsidered. “Not fine at all.”

Jak had just thrown up again, cursing under his breath. “Forgot how bad,” he said, his voice barely audible. “Black hole in middle head.”

Now everyone was lurching back toward consciousness, with the exception of Doc. Mildred had crawled to check him out, turning his head to one side, pushing her fingers into his mouth to make sure that he wouldn’t swallow his tongue.

“I worry about him making jumps,” she said, taking the old man’s pulse. “It screws up his metabolism and his head is always badly muddled afterward.”

“Only way to travel,” Ryan said. He stood, steadying himself with a hand against the cold walls of the gateway chamber. “Air smells reasonable here.”

J.B. and Dean were also vertical. Jak had lain down again. If possible, his face was even more pale than usual, with a light greenish tint to it.

Trader had carefully checked his Armalite, slipping the safety off again. “Puke color to the walls,” he said. “They all different?”

Ryan nodded. “Most are. Seen red, purple, green, blue and yellow.”

“Last one was silver.”

“Right. How’s Doc coming along, Mildred?”

“Pulse and respiration are picking up some. Should be back with us in a few minutes.”

Trader was on his feet, drawing in gulps of the air. “You reckon this is good to breathe, Ryan? Tastes like the inside of a gaudy shithouse.”

“Known worse. You have to remember that we’re likely inside a redoubt that hasn’t been entered in close to a hundred years. Only the reliable nuke gens keep power and air-con going. Always tastes a little stale and flat.”

“Let’s go recce.”

Ryan shook his head. “No way, Trader. Place like this, we all stick together. You never know what kind of triple-red danger you might find.”

“Enough of us with enough blasters to take anything and anybody out. If I’d had half a dozen well-armed troops with me when I started out trading, I could sure as shit be the baron of all Deathlands by now.”

J.B. had quietly checked his blasters, then polished his glasses and replaced them. “Like we said before, Trader, that was then and this is now.”

“Sure, sure. I’m just an old fart Like a fruit been sucked dry. Old rag been rung out and then thrown away. That’s how you two see it.”

Krysty laughed. “Love it when you try to turn on the self-pity, Trader. I never saw a man who looked less like an old rag been thrown away.”

Grudgingly he grinned. “Mebbe, mebbe, Lady Red.” Trader wiped his hand across his sweating forehead. “All these redoubts as hot as this one?”

Mildred interrupted him. “Doc’s coming around,” she said. “Why not open the door of the chamber, Ryan? Give us all a little more space and air.”

“Sure. Everyone on triple red?” He looked around to make sure that all of them, except for Mildred and Doc, had their blasters drawn and readied.

He moved to the door, trying to make out any sign of anything beyond it. But the orange color was so vivid that it was impossible. The handle moved easily and he swung the door open, the others covering him from behind.

Trader started to push forward, past him, but Ryan held out his hand. “Hold it.”

“What?”

“You heard, Trader. Times like this there has to be one voice, and it’s mine. That clear to you?” Ryan turned and stared him full in the face, holding his gaze until Trader shuffled his feet and glanced away.

“Yeah, fine with me. Just that I always hated hangin’ around a place.”

“We wait for Doc.”

“They always have these little bitty rooms stuck on the outside of them?”

“Gateway chambers? Yeah. Pretty well all of them. Most are just like this. No bigger than ten feet or so across. Majority are stripped bare.”