The Silver Sphere by Michael Dadich Read Free Book Online Page A

least her early teens, she weighed less than he'd expected.
    "Hang on tight!"
    As the van sped along, Nick launched from the back, and a sharp
pain jabbed in his side. He looked down and... an ice pick was stuck in his gut.
Jordy snarled from behind as Nick dropped from the exit.
    The first thought in Nick's mind was, Roll over. Protect her.
    He landed so hard the wind rushed out of him. He wheezed and
his fingertips ran cold. Emily crawled toward him as cars honked. Someone had their
high beams trained on him and yelled for traffic to stop.
    "Mister, you okay?" Emily's voice cracked as she took
his hand in hers.
    "I'm... fine." Even as he gasped it, he knew it was
a lie. "Are you... okay?"
    She nodded as tears dripped from her chin onto his neck. "Please
don't die."
    "Someone call an ambulance!" a man cried somewhere
nearby.
    Another voice shouted directions to the police dispatcher.
    He vaguely heard the girl's mother yell out, "Emily! Emily,
are you all right?"
    As his vision faded, Nick spied the girl being pulled into her
mother's arms, the mother weeping and repeating, "Thank you," over and
over.
    Emily darted to him and cradled his head.
    Emily, he thought, and closed his eyes.
    Nick gazed at the radiant stars of the clear night, his head
light as a cotton ball. Ascending, he rotated and viewed the bright, spinning lights
below. Two ambulances and a few police cars formed a circle around his body. Its
open eyes stared up at him from the stretcher while a paramedic tried desperately
to revive it.
    Cold panic rushed through him.
    I must be dreaming, or my mind is slipping. He continued
to glide higher, the image of the emergency technician over his figure fading away.
Thick and murky blackness engulfed him with an arctic embrace as the shadows twisted
and turned around him. Darkness ensued for a time, and he fell asleep.
     

     
    Nick stirred and wiped away the chunky crust that had formed
in the corners of his eyes. A haze of images prevented him from organizing his thoughts. What happened? His head ached.
    Once more on solid ground, he brushed his hand through the grass.
He stood and inhaled the chilly, crisp air, which invigorated him. A pair of hills
emerged to his right, and beyond it swirled the remainder of an orange and red sunset.
He lumbered toward the dwindling sundown, rustling his hair with both hands. The
pain from the ice pick to his stomach grew dim, as if he'd only dreamt it.
    Had he fallen asleep? Had the kidnapping been a dream?
    He trekked awhile, sticking to the flat parts of the countryside.
The twilight made it too dark to view his surroundings for anything familiar. Grass
and sticks crunched underfoot and echoed around him, but didn't offer any clues.
Light emanated from over a hill, and he quickened his pace.
    As he drew closer, crackling sounds and voices rose ahead. He
crawled through the mossy, wet grass, and stayed as low to the ground as possible
as he scaled the embankment. When he reached the top, he peeked over the hill.
    Several shapes hovered around a campfire, holding out long sticks
over the cozy flames. The scent of roasting meat filled the air. His eyes adjusted
to the light, and.... Am I going insane? The figures below were wearing armor
like Arthurian knights.
    One man, draped in a cape, darted over to a horse tied to a nearby
tree. He was dressed in a rich violet and red, and a large sword hung from a sheath
at his side. On his cloak was a lavender bird of some sort.
    Nick considered approaching the fire, hoping they might be a
traveling circus. What else could they be? He circled the encampment and
tried to maneuver closer to better survey the strange men. Bobbing up from nowhere,
in the middle of the night, probably wouldn't be a good surprise for the warriors.
Their weapons dangled as though real, and testing them would be foolhardy. After
all, if someone came after him from the dark, he'd want to defend himself.
    A sharp object poked into the small of his back. Nick stifled
a