She moved that way, gesturing for Whittaker and Sally to follow her. There was just enough room for them to crawl under the table top and over the limp Matthew, whose aroma was decidedly not floral, where he had been caught, chest and thighs, by the two table legs. Hands helped them to stand in a relatively free space, crowded though it was by uniformed bodies and the splintered remnants of the original door into the room. Oddly enough, that wall was standing.
Then Marmion turned in the direction the officer was staring.
“My word!” Her jaw dropped as she gazed out at the massive rock structure that had been punched through the surface that had once been the landing field of SpaceBase. “No, it’s not quite a ziggurat,” she murmured to herself, trying to remember where she had seen a very similar formation, like building blocks, or stepping-stones in some unfathomable pattern, rising high above them. Yet even as her amazed eyes took in the scope of the elevated area, she could see how one could fairly easily climb to the top, if one were daring. Once the last of the mists had cleared, what a splendid view one would have, too, to see what Petaybee had done to prove Matthew’s assumption wrong.
People were emerging from upended and broken buildings all around this extrusion, dust-covered, quite likely amazed to have escaped with their lives.
“Is anyone hurt down here?” a familiar voice called from the corridor.
“Yana! Yanaba Maddock, is Clodagh with you? I think Matthew may be hurt,” Marmion called back.
“Luzon?” There was a definite edge to Yana’s tone, but then Marmion scarcely blamed her. “Is anyone else hurt?”
“II don’t think so,” Marmion said, twisting around to see Chas Tung, Bal Jostique, and Nexim Shi-Tu getting to their feet and dusting themselves off. Then they, too, caught sight of what had been elevated on the landing field and just stared at it.
Do them good, Marmion thought, for doubting!
“Are you all right? And everyone with you?” Marmion called.
Then Yana poked her head through the door while Sean carefully broke off the splintered wood of the door frame before it could do any harm.
“Clodagh’s still counting noses, but we had the benefit of padded cells during the rough bit,” Yana said with an irrepressible grin, “and the door locks released when the power went off.” She gave a snort at the inadequacy of the security as she clambered over the door and knelt beside Matthew, feeling the pulse at his throat. “Well, he’s alivebut you’re bleeding, soldier. And Sergeant, that looks like a broken arm to me. Sit down here, against the wall. If it hasn’t fallen before, it won’t come down now. Ah, Bunny, find some water and see if you can find a medic running around loose.”
“The usual medical facility is just down that corridor and to your right,” Whittaker said. “I’ll show you.” He stepped over the remaining door frame to lead Bunnyand also to add his authority to any request she’d make of dazed or possibly reluctant personnel to assist her.
Chapter 19
It took the rest of that day to assess damages, but these were actually rather limited, despite the wreckage of the, conference wing and its temporary detention cells. The ones, on the far end of the field had also been demolished, but there had been no loss of life and only a few minor broken limbs, lacerations, and bruises. There were plenty of outraged dignities and addled wits. Some of the Omnicron and the other imported soldiers spoke of hearing a voice in the mist, though they hadn’t a clue what it was saying, other than somehow reassuring them.
Halfway through Johnny Greene’s and Rick O’Shay’s attempts to re-establish communications with the MoonBase, a disheveled and enraged Torkel Fiske arrived on foot with the copter pilot, both of them lugging jury-rigged backpacks full of ore samples. He insisted on seeing Matthew Luzon, and “don’t give me any excuses,” so he was duly shown the bandaged but still unconscious commissioner.
“Massive bruising on the chest,” the almost apologetic medic told him, “and he’s got two broken legs.”