“I guess not,” Ryan agreed, still lying on the floor, trying to puzzle out what he was seeing. “But there’s what I’d swear was filtered sunlight. No sort of roof up there, unless it’s made of glass.”
“That’d fit in with Doc’s theory.” Mildred smiled innocently at the old man. “It would be so wonderful if one of Doc’s theories actually came true.”
Doc took off an imaginary hat and dropped the woman a deep bow. “May the bird of paradise fly up your nose, dear lady.”
“Hold the noise,” Ryan called. “I don’t know about this. Looks like the outdoors. Dean?”
“Yeah, Dad.”
“Just take it up another six inches, will you? Then stop it. And keep on triple red to drop it at my signal.”
“Sure. Here goes.”
The hidden gears hissed and the door trembled for a moment, then moved up smoothly another six inches. Ryan still held the SIG-Sauer at the ready.
There were several seconds of silence.
“Well?” Krysty queried. “Come on, lover. The suspense is chilling us.”
Ryan moved to a kneeling position and dusted of his hands. “I don’t know.”
“But what do you see?” J.B. asked. “Is that indoors or out of doors?”
“Out. Definitely out.”
“Should I take it all the way up, Dad?”
Ryan stood. “I guess so. Just wait a moment, though.”
He turned to the rest of the companions in the main control room of the mat-trans unit. “There’s so much lush vegetation out there that you can’t see very far. It’s not like anything I ever saw before. Don’t recognize half of the plants. So I don’t know where in the dark night we’ve jumped to.”
“Time jump?” Jak asked.
Ryan looked at the albino. “I don’t Hadn’t thought about that, Jak, but I guess it’s not out of the question. Fact is, nothing’s out of the question so we’d best all stay on triple red until we know a bit more. Okay, Dean, take her up, but keep on the edge of dropping it again.”
The boy nodded, lifting the green handle and gripping it in both hands.
The sec door slid inexorably upward, settling into place at the top of its rise.
“By the Three Kennedys!” Doc was the only one to break the silence as all of them finally saw the amazing sight outside the entrance.
Directly in front of the door, there seemed to have been some effort made to clear away the rich bank of vegetation, but on either side the wall of greenness soared a hundred feet high. The smell was overwhelming, the moist emerald scent overlaid with the sweetness of flowers. Great trees could be seen, their massive, moss-covered trunks wound with lianas and flowering vines.
They could hear the cheeping of insects and the sounds of other distant creatures, howling, barking and snarling in the undergrowth.
Mildred giggled. “Sorry,” she said. “Can’t help it. I just thought that we should be real careful. It’s a jungle out there.”
Chapter Four
“I don’t believe we’re in Deathlands,” J.B. said quietly. “I don’t even recognize those trees or the bushes. Could be we’re in those islands out in the Cific.”
“Hawaii?” Krysty stared out at the alien landscape. “Suppose that would make some sense.”
“Perhaps the most practical move would be for John Barrymore to use that quaint little sextant of his and try to locate our actual position,” Doc suggested.
Ryan shook his head. “Not for a minute, Doc. Like Mildred said, it looks more like a jungle out there. Could be all sorts of dangers we aren’t ready for. Gotta take this one a single careful step at a time.”
Everyone stood and waited, stupefied by the abundant array just outside the open sec door. Gradually, as their eyes became accustomed to the richness, it became possible to note some of the details.
The green canopy was dotted with color.
To the right was a shrub that bore brilliant tiny red flowers, like points of living fire. One of the vines that clawed its way around the trunk of the tallest tree, whose crown was out of sight among the other vegetation, had cuplike flowers of ivory pink, attracting hordes of small turquoise insects.