Jaydium, Chapter 10
Sep. 7th, 2012 09:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahjrossIn which Eril, Kithri, and Lennart find they are not in Kansas any more...
He couldn't move, not even his eyelids. He could barely breathe as an iron band held his ribs like a vice. Something warm and steely clamped tight over his mouth. Prickles of ice flared up all over his body.
Air! screamed his burning lungs.
Calm--he had to stay calm. Just one breath, he swore to himself--one breath, nice and slow. Air in...air out...
Panic receded to a muted roar.
Air in...air out... He could feel a faint, shallow movement in his chest. His heart raced loud and strong in his ears. Cold sweat covered his face.
The next thing Eril felt was a slight stinging on his temples as something was torn loose.
"Ccan yyou unndersstand mme?"
The words reverberated in his ears with a curious, distorted echo. Somehow he managed to open his eyes. His vision whirled, doubled, and finally came to an uneasy fusion. A moment later he made out a slender silhouette backlit by artificial yellow-green light, bending over him. The clamp over his mouth was suddenly released. He felt a gentle touch behind one ear.
"There, the translator should be working better now." The voice was light, flowery and unmistakably feminine. "The sound-duplication effect will fade as your auditory associational cortex filters out the redundant signals. You can understand me, yes?"
Deborah J. Ross: Jaydium, Chapter 10
He couldn't move, not even his eyelids. He could barely breathe as an iron band held his ribs like a vice. Something warm and steely clamped tight over his mouth. Prickles of ice flared up all over his body.
Air! screamed his burning lungs.
Calm--he had to stay calm. Just one breath, he swore to himself--one breath, nice and slow. Air in...air out...
Panic receded to a muted roar.
Air in...air out... He could feel a faint, shallow movement in his chest. His heart raced loud and strong in his ears. Cold sweat covered his face.
The next thing Eril felt was a slight stinging on his temples as something was torn loose.
"Ccan yyou unndersstand mme?"
The words reverberated in his ears with a curious, distorted echo. Somehow he managed to open his eyes. His vision whirled, doubled, and finally came to an uneasy fusion. A moment later he made out a slender silhouette backlit by artificial yellow-green light, bending over him. The clamp over his mouth was suddenly released. He felt a gentle touch behind one ear.
"There, the translator should be working better now." The voice was light, flowery and unmistakably feminine. "The sound-duplication effect will fade as your auditory associational cortex filters out the redundant signals. You can understand me, yes?"
Deborah J. Ross: Jaydium, Chapter 10
