Deanne saw the panel blinking EMERGENCY EXIT too late, and her
momentary hesitation at the cross corridor spelled an abrupt finis to
her desperate attempt. The lone guard who otherwise would never have
seen her brought his springbow up with a look of dazed astonishment on
his bearded features, and she froze.
"Don't--please!"
"How did you escape?" He moved closer, springbow was cocked taut.
"My--my cell door. For some reason it failed to shut properly, and
I--I--"
"That is a likely story indeed, pretty one! Escapes are not made from
this prison quite so easily! You come along with me ... come on!"
His command ended in a sharp yell of surprise. The springbow clattered
from his grasp as the corridor suddenly rocked crazily, and Deanne felt
herself thrown bodily against the exit panel!
It slid back at her touch, and she was through it, and then thrown
headlong as a second tremor wrenched her from her feet. The whole world
seemed to be disintegrating around her.
She found strength somehow and ran again, trying vainly to keep her
balance, to keep the pitching corridor floor beneath her feet. And then
running toward her--God, another guard--