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  Allison nodded, still trying to figure things out. The coughing finally stopped, and she managed to suck in enough air to talk. “I thought you were dead.” She looked up at him. “How’d you know the ceiling was about to explode?”

  Zack smiled, winced, and raised a hand to his cheek without quite touching it. “I saw Backdraft. When a fire starts to inhale its own smoke, that’s bad.” He slowly lowered his hand away from the wound on his cheek. “I pushed you away and tried to get out myself, through the door. I was a little late, but I made it.” He winced again when he smiled. “Just.”

  Allison nodded. She was still concentrating on breathing the fresh air. That made her realize that they were no longer in the medical building.

  She began standing and Zack said, “Take it easy, I don’t know how long you were lying there sucking up smoke.”

  Allison nodded and stood anyway, even though it made her feel dizzy. They were on a roof somewhere in the Prometheus complex. She turned around and felt disoriented until she saw a pillar of smoke about a thousand yards away, marking the medical building.

  “Where— how— what—” Allison stood dumbfounded, and a little wobbly. How long had she been out?

  Zack stood up next to her, putting a supportive arm around her. “‘Where’ is an outbuilding sitting at the end of Prometheus’ runway.” Zack turned her away from the complex so she could see the tarmac, the hangers and the control tower. “‘How?’ The air Zack express.”

  Allison shook her head, “But the interference?”

  Zack grinned again, this time with only the uninjured part of his face. “There are ways around that. Ever see Rescue 911?”

  “What?”

  Zack gestured at the ground where she’d woken up. Lying on the ground was a long length of fire hose, tied into a loop on both ends.

  “They raise people into helicopters all the time. I just dangled you out of range— landing was a bitch though.”

  “Zack, you’re a genius.” Allison hugged him.

  “The face! Watch the face!”

  9:50 AM

  Macy paced in front of the open door of the Beechcraft Starship. She held one of the oversized tranquilizer rifles carried by the Prometheus guards. Up until fifteen minutes ago it had belonged to the man crumpled in a heap by the hangar door. It had been over an hour since they had emerged from the drainage ditch.

  From that point, it only took ten minutes and three guards for John to get them to the plane. From there, it was a matter of waiting.

  Every few minutes Macy would glance over at the cockpit windows to watch John work on the plane. The rest of her time was evenly divided between looking at the crumpled guard and staring at the chaos the Prometheus complex had become.

  Since John had handed her a gun and told her to guard his rear, a half-dozen guards had passed the hangar. Only one of them showed interest in the airplane, and he stopped his approach when he saw Macy and the rifle.

  There were more escaping students than there were guards. For the past fifteen minutes, since the echoes of the last gunshots had faded, stealth no longer seemed a priority. The hangar opened on to the tarmac, and was in sight of two of the major gates into the PRI complex, and both seemed open and unguarded now. People flowed out of them without challenge, in cars, golf-carts, and on foot.

  During the wait, Macy’s expression grew darker and darker. Occasionally she’d wipe her cheeks and mutter, “Allie, come on girl,” as she stared off at the smoke. Then she’d glance at the crumpled guard and begin pacing again.

  It was almost ten o’clock when she raised the rifle at two lone figures walking toward the hanger. It took a few long moments for recognition to dawn on Macy’s face and for her to lower the rifle. “Allie!”

  Macy dropped the gun, ran up, and embraced Allison. When she broke off the hug, Macy looked down at the combination of blood and soot that she’d smeared on her own clothes and said, “Lord, girl, you look like hell. Are you all right?”

  “I’m ambulatory,” Allison said in a hoarse voice.

  Macy looked over to the boy Allison leaned against. He looked as bad, or worse, than Allison did. “Who’s your friend?” Macy asked.

  “Macy meet Zack, Zack, Macy.”

  “Charmed,” Zack said.

  “Great, I worry about your ass for hours, and you’re going around picking up guys.”

  Zack shook his head, “Actually I picked her up.”

  Allison erupted into hoarse laughter.

  “I don’t get it,” Macy said.

  “Long story,” Allison told her. “Anyway, he’s coming with us.”

  “Hey, you can bring Rush Limbaugh as far as I’m concerned, as long as you’re back.” Macy put and arm around Allison’s shoulder. “Now let’s see if your dad can fly us out of this place.”

  He could.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

  Steve has been afflicted by writing since an early age, and was seriously involved with prose in high school. Despite the best efforts of a supporting and loving family, he published his first novel in college. While insisting he can stop any time he wants, he hides behind an alias, S Andrew Swann, and has published 26 novels since 1993. He’s indulged in fantasy, science-fiction and horror and, as a late-stage genre addict, has even gone so far as mixing all three in the same book. To this date he insists that his compulsion has not had an adverse effect on his life.

  You can find him on the web at www.sandrewswann.com.

  You can sign up for his mailing list and receive notifications about future releases, receive ARCs, and hear about calls for beta readers.

  OTHER FICTION by S. ANDREW SWANN

  Science Fiction

  The Moreau Quartet Volume 1 & Volume 2: After the global conflicts of the 21st Century, the U.S. is home to an underclass descended from the soldiers genetically engineered to fight those wars. These four novels in two volumes tell stories of those outcasts: Nohar, an evolved tiger working as a P.I., Angel, a former gangbanger rabbit, and Evi, a government agent who’s the most despised of all, a genetically enhanced human.

  Prophets: Apotheosis 1, Heretics: Apotheosis 2, Messiah: Apotheosis 3: It is centuries after the collapse of the human Confederacy and multiple factions are vying for power over human space. A lost colony draws the attention of parties from the Eridani Caliphate to the Vatican, but the apocalyptic transmissions from that colony presage a threat that transcends human politics or religion.

  Fantasy

  Dragons & Dwarves: These two novels present the world a decade after a portal to another universe opens in Browns’ Stadium. Through that portal, everything from dragons to elves emerges to settle in Cleveland, Ohio. These are the stories of Cleveland Press reporter Kline Maxwell as he investigates the political machinations and conspiracies of a rust-belt city suddenly imbued with magic.

  Dragon*Princess, Dragon*Thief, Dragon*Wizard: This trilogy is the story of mediocre thief Frank Blackthorne who is blackmailed by a shady royal wizard into saving a princess from a dragon, a task that leads him into a series of ever-worsening catastrophes that only start with him involuntarily being body-swapped with the princess of Lendowyn.

  Wolfbreed, Wolf’s Cross: It is the middle ages, and the Teutonic Knights have found a secret weapon in their crusade to Christianize the pagan north of Europe; werewolves. When the Teutonic Knights think better of using these monsters in their crusade, they end up in battle with the creatures they’ve unleashed.

  Marked: Dana Rohan’s life has been defined by the mark on her back. Kept hidden from everyone, it allows her the awesome power to walk back and forth into alternate pasts and futures. It has secretly been a key to her career as a police detective. When an old man with a similar mark is killed in front of her, her carefully constructed life begins to unravel as she’s forced to flee through alternate worlds to escape the forces trying to kill her. Somehow, she must discover what the mark truly means.

  k