“His vitals are good.”
“I know.”
The nurse smiled slightly, then walked off, her footsteps clicking on the gray floor. Lauren watched, methodically, first the hall, then the window, then the Callaghans. For what, she was not sure. Perhaps for nothing. Perhaps the fight was truly ended, and Conner would be able to enter his training.
But where would it lead? What was she to do?
She laughed a little to herself. How absurd that question was. It would lead beyond imagination, past the edge of the known world.
Three o’clock, an alarm beeped in another room, and nurses hurried past. Half past, the wind came, rattling the window. Conner sighed and muttered words that brought to Lauren’s mind the tone of prayer. She prayed, then, to Conner’s favorite god—that is to say, whatever one happens to be real.
The spirit of man had triumphed this day. Ignition had been achieved. Now, the ascent.
She watched through the deeper hours, watched and waited for the dawn.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
THE GRAYS
Copyright © 2006 by Whitley Strieber
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strieber, Whitley.
The Grays / Whitley Strieber.—1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN-13:978-0-765-31389-8
ISBN-10:0-765-31389-8 (acid-free paper)
1. Life on other planets—Fiction. 2. Kentucky—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3569.T6955G73 2006
813'.54—dc22
2005034494
First Edition: August 2006
Printed in the United States of America
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