'Out of here!' Trask grated in Nathan's ear, repeating Goodly's expert advice. But at the same time, as the muzzles of CMI weapons swung in their direction, he cocked his machine-pistol, which made a typical ch-ching sound as the first round was picked up and rammed into the breach. He couldn't fire the thing - wouldn't, not while there were espers in the room; and whether for good or bad reasons, the CMI men were only carrying out their duty, after all - but it was a warning. If this was to be a firefight, it would be a firefight. The bullets would be flying in both directions.
And the warning was taken. CMI agents scattered in all directions through the Ops room; espers hit the floor, taking what cover they could; the Minister Responsible and senior CMI officer present, who were closest to Trask and his party, took staggering steps backwards and put up their fluttering hands.
It was all the distraction Nathan had needed. He conjured a Mobius door, grabbed Trask and Chung's elbows and swung them off-balance, aiming them at the invisible metaphysical portal. But CMI weren't just playing a game; they did have their orders, and Nathan was at the heart of it. From beneath the podium, an ominous, answering ch-ching sounded over all other sounds, and just as Nathan propelled his companions over the threshold of his door, so a stream of deadly lead scythed across the room, accompanied by the deafening, snarled obscenities of rapid-fire.
Even as he entered the Mobius Continuum, Nathan was hit in the shoulder. It spun him over and over in darkness, lighting up his mind with flashes of red pain. And Trask and Chung, holding grimly to him, likewise spinning and actually feeling it: his lack of co-ordination, the sickening whirl of Nathan's psyche, until he was able to steady himself and ask:
Where now?
That he had asked told its own story: his shock, dis-orientation. The fact that he'd been hit. The pain was in his mind as surely as it would be in his words if they'd been spoken.
How badly? Trask was anxious for him - for Nathan this time, not himself. And this despite that, if the Necroscope's wound was fatal, the Head of E-Branch might easily be stuck in the Mobius Continuum forever. It was a measure of Trask's friendship for, his dedication to, even his love of the son of Harry Keogh. Likewise of David Chung's when the locator said:
'Nathan - hang on! Don't go under.' And yet again the insane gonging, the painful reverberation of spoken words in the elemental, echoing nothingness of the Mobius Continuum.
I don't think it's bad, Nathan told them. But I need to know where to take you. Time's running out. I mean, at the Refuge. What about Zek's place on Zante?
No! Trask cautioned him against it. Whatever this thing is with CMI, she's not involved in it, not yet. And you're right, we're running out of time. Goodly foresaw trouble at both ends, and no future for me and David at any end! Not in this world, anyway ...
With which his talent took over and showed him the whole picture, the whole 'truth': that while there was no future for them in this world, Earth wasn't their only choice. What about Sunside/Starside?
Nathan read Trask's thoughts; but one didn't need to be a telepath to do that, not in the Mflbius Continuum. You want to ... to come through with me?
That has to be it, Trask answered. It's the only answer. 1 don't feel about ready to die, but if there's no future for me in this world ...?
Chung had understood all of this, by which time the fact had also dawned that it wasn't a good idea to speak - and certainly not to shout - in this place. So that now he thought: Couldn't lan be mistaken?
But Trask said, Oh, and can you remember the last time he was mistaken?