Invasion by Robin Cook Read Free Book Online Page B

face!
    Charlie’s first thought was to get the hell out of theroom, but he hesitated. It was a confusing spectacle and mildly frightening, yet curious at the same time.
    Then to Charlie’s amazement a shower of sparks burst forth from the side of the box accompanied by a hissing sound similar to arc welding. Charlie’s hands reflexively shot up to protect his face from the sparks, but they stopped almost the moment they began. From the point of sparking a luminous red spinning disc the size of a silver dollar emerged. It had seared through the metal, leaving a smoking slit.
    Completely stunned by this phenomenon, Charlie couldn’t move. The spinning disc slowly traveled laterally toward the window, coming within a foot of his arm. At the window it hovered as if it were appreciating the vista of the night sky. Then its color changed from red to white-hot and a corona appeared around it like a narrow halo.
    Charlie’s curiosity propelled him closer to this mysterious object. He knew no one was going to believe him when he described it. Holding out his hand, palm down, he waved it back and forth over the object to make sure there wasn’t a wire or a string. He couldn’t understand how it was hanging in the air.
    Sensing its warmth, Charlie cupped his hands and slowly brought them closer and closer to the object. It was a peculiar warmth that tingled his skin. When his hands got within the corona, the tingling magnified.
    The object ignored Charlie until he inadvertently blocked the object’s view of the night sky. The moment he did so, the disc moved laterally, and before Charlie could react, it instantly and effortlessly burnt a hole through thecenter of his palm! Skin, bone, ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels were all vaporized.
    Charlie let out a yelp more in surprise than pain. It had happened so quickly. He staggered back, gaping at his perforated hand in total disbelief and smelling the unmistakable aroma of burnt flesh. There was no bleeding since all the vessels had been heat-coagulated. In the next instant the corona around the luminous object expanded to a foot in diameter.
    Before Charlie could react, a whooshing sound commenced and rapidly increased in volume until it was deafening. At the same time Charlie felt a force pulling him toward the window. Frantically he reached out with his good hand and grabbed the bed only to have his feet go out from underneath him. Gritting his teeth, he managed to hang on even though the bed itself moved. The violence of the sound and the movement lasted only seconds before being capped by a noise vaguely reminiscent of the closing of a central vac port.
    Charlie let go of the bed and tried to get to his feet, but he couldn’t. The muscles of his legs were like rubber. He knew something was horribly wrong and tried to cry out for help, but his voice was weak, and he was salivating so copiously that any speech was nearly impossible. Marshalling what strength he had, he attempted to crawl toward the door. But the effort was in vain. After moving only a few feet he started to retch. Moments later utter darkness descended as Charlie’s body was racked by a series of rapidly fatal grand mal seizures.

5

    2:10 A.M.
    AS FAR AS STUDENT APARTMENTS WENT, IT WAS RELATIVELY luxurious and spacious, and since it was located on the second floor, it even had a view. Both Cassy’s and Beau’s parents wanted their children to live in decent surroundings and had been accordingly willing to up their kids’ living allowances when they decided to move out of their dorms. Part of the reason for the largesse was that both had stellar academic records.
    Cassy and Beau had found the apartment eight months previously and had jointly painted and furnished it. The furniture was mostly garage-sale acquisitions which had been stripped and refinished. The curtains were bedsheets in disguise.
    The bedroom faced east which at times was a bother because of the intensity of the morning sun. It wasn’t a