“They come,” Jak said quietly.
Ryan nodded.
“Now,” Krysty went on, “we’re going to use the whole wad at once. If it works, could be we’ll cut off pursuit.”
“Of course,” Doc said as he worked steadfastly and with care, “the downside is that we’ll be trapped in even less space if the mat-trans unit does not operate properly.”
“Wouldn’t have much use for it anyway,” Ryan said, “all shot full of holes the way these stupes plan it.”
“Buy us some time,” Krysty said. “Another couple minutes should see us clear in here.”
“Mebbe.” Ryan pulled his head out of the tunnel. “Burroughs has a lot of shooters, but I don’t think he brought that war wag down with him.” He hefted one side of the desk, finding it heavy enough to suit his purpose. “J.B.”
The Armorer joined him, picking up the other side of the desk. They moved it toward the door, turning it on its side and spilling everything from the top. The petrified corpse almost tripped Ryan until he kicked himself free of it.
“Throw the torches out,” Ryan ordered. “We know where we are and where we’re going to head. All that light is doing in here is giving them a better target.” He and J.B. positioned the desk crossways in the door as the first shots rang out and smashed against the outer walls and the other side of the room. Before he released the desk, Ryan felt bullets thud to shuddering stops against it.
Mildred and Jak heaved their torches into the corridor, and they drew fire at once. The flames were quickly ripped to shreds.
“Stop firing!” Burroughs yelled.
Swiftly the gunfire died away.
Ryan moved to the left of the door as the final sounds drifted away, leaving a ringing in his ears. He stared through the darkness. The major had settled his men into position fifty yards distant, from the stairwell to two corridors running from the opposite wall.
“You’ve got nowhere to go, Cawdor,” Burroughs yelled.
Ryan made no comment. If the man didn’t know about the mat-trans unit, it would work in their favor. Burroughs would feel time was on his side instead of working against him.
“If that’s the same guy that was written about in that lady’s journal I discovered,” Mildred said in a voice pitched low enough that only Ryan and the others could hear, “the man’s over a hundred years old.”
“Same you,” Jak said.
“Watch it, Jak,” Mildred cautioned. “A proper young man wouldn’t go around mentioning a lady’s age.”
“Cryosleep?” Ryan asked.
“When we had a look in that project area,” she said, “I didn’t see any cryo chambers.”
Jak shook his head, too.
“This book I got” Mildred took it out of her clothing, “mentions Burroughs by name. Same rank. Said he was the man in charge of project security.”
“What was the project?” Ryan asked.
“They called it Calypso.”
“Ryan,” Doc spoke up, “if I may intrude into the conversation.”
“Never saw a time when you didn’t feel free before,” J.B. commented.
Doc ignored the statement. “Calypso may refer to one of the Greek deities. The masterminds who developed the Totality Concept and the others like it have an obvious fondness for that mythology. To wit”
“Who was Calypso?” Ryan asked, trying to keep the older man on track mentally. Doc had a habit of wandering astray of a subject before circling back to it. If he did return to it at all.
“Calypso is mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey . As you may recall, after the Trojan War, Odysseus spent ten long years trying to get back to his home and family. Many adventures befell him. One was on the island of Ogygia in the Ionian Sea.”
“Cawdor,” Burroughs called, “no more truces. You can have your choice of deaths. Come out now, and I promise to be merciful. Make me come in after you, and you’ll be days in the dying.”
Ryan ignored the man.
“You see,” Doc continued, “Odysseus was shipwrecked on the island. Calypso lived there alone. She was a sea nymph, a daughter of Atlas, who carried the entire weight of the world on his shoulders, and as such had many powers. She fell in love with the Greek hero after saving his life, and kept him a prisoner for seven years. If he would have only loved her, she would have granted him immortality and eternal youth, because those were within her ability to give. Instead, he chose to return home, and Zeus made her release him. Odysseus built a raft and left the island, leaving poor Calypso there to die of grief.”