them stood locked in a deadly embrace with glowing, uncontrolled power rippling across the surfaces of their armored suits. The noise that was coming from them no longer resembled anything that even approached human.
It was not clear which one blew first — the twin explosions were close to simultaneous. Stent's entire headpiece was blown off, and it spun high into the air. The weapons built into his left arm discharged in a single blazing arc that melted the stones at his feet. Mornon's fatal blast was more internalized. It did not split his armor, but flame and hot gas jetted from every vent and orifice. The two metal men fell against each other with a doomed knell crash, two lifeless steel hulks still on their feet, propping each other up. Smoke drifted lazily from the hole where Stent's head once had been.
Despite all the horror that had gone before, the whole city, including the contract warriors and Baptiste's raiders, was gripped by a long minute of silence. It was as though the population had been stunned by the very personal display of superhuman violence. When the grip let go, however, all hell broke loose. There was a howl from the raiders as they spurred forward.
Reave turned and yelled. 'That's us! Let's go! Let's get inside the pyramid.'
The remaining five contract warriors were climbing the side of the pyramid as fast as they could. There suddenly seemed to be an infinite number of steps between them and safety. The Minstrel Boy's breath was already coming in short, labored gasps. They should have climbed higher while the metal men were flighting, but they had been held spellbound by the clash of the ancient military behemoths. It suddenly looked like a spell that would prove ultimately disastrous. The raiders were on the plaza, and weapon fire was already hitting the steps. Everything had started to move with the alarming speed of crisis and pumping adrenaline.
The Minstrel Boy was sweating and red in the face by the time he reached the platform in front of the entrance to the pyramid. He was running half doubled-over, ducking the multicolored fire that flashed over his head. The great stone blocks that served as doors were still rolled back. He looked behind. To his surprise, Renatta, Blaisdell, and Billy were still laboring up the steps. The raiders were dismounted and climbing, too, firing from the hip as they came. The Minstrel Boy unslung the AK 5000 and thumbed off the safety. He fired a long burst into the climbing raiders. Two of them went down, but then he had to duck a particle beam as one of their comrades took careful aim at him.
He heard Renatta scream. She was down. Blaisdell changed direction to go to her aid. He had taken only a couple of steps when he, too, was hit. A spreader had removed all of his right shoulder and a portion of his head. His body rolled down five steps before it finally came to rest.
The Minstrel Boy started down again. He had to reach Renatta. She was one of them, much more so than Blaisdell. If she was dead, he could die, too. The protective aura would be gone. He found that he was muttering to himself as he slapped another clip into the AK. 'This is too fucking real. This is all too fucking real.'
Billy reached her first. He bent over her briefly and then waved him back. 'There's nothing you can do! She's dead!'
He turned and dropped a smartbomb on his pursuers. The Minstrel Boy stood stock-still. He was numb. Renatta couldn't be dead. She couldn't be dead.
Billy was yelling at him. 'Get moving! Don't be a damned fool, she's dead!'
Reave had come out of nowhere and grabbed him. He dragged him up the last few steps and through the entrance. The stone blocks were already pivoting back into place. Billy rolled through behind them with a couple of raiders hot on his heels.
As he rolled, he loosed a heatflash from the multiplex, and they were charred instantly. The stone blocks closed. They were sealed inside the pyramid.
For the first few seconds they were blind. After the bright, white marble outside, the interior of the pyramid was a place of impenetrable gloom until their eyes adjusted. The Minstrel Boy slowly lowered his gun, but he could not quite put it down. A red LED was flashing on the AK. He was out of ammunition. There were no more fresh clips. He released the empty one and let it clatter to the floor.
'Renatta's dead.'
Billy and Reave looked at each other uncomfortably.
'We know.'
'And Blaisdell.'
'It was a mess out there at the end.'
'And Stent, and Jet Ace.'
'Get off it, boy. We ain't out of the woods yet.'
The Minstrel Boy's face was set in a fixed stare. His voice had the dead quality of someone going into shock. 'I can't get worked up about Stent and Jet Ace. They were too fucking weird and alien, all that metal.'
Reave was moving toward him. 'Not now, pal. Don't thousand-yard us. It's not the time for it.'
The Minstrel Boy looked Reave straight in the eye. 'Just the three of us left. You, me, and him. How is it that we always make it through? Because we're the flicking DNA Cowboys? Is that why they're dead and we're not?'
He swung around and hurled the AK angrily away from him. It hit the floor with a crash and skidded across the smooth, polished stone.
'Why the fuck didn't they get me, too?'
He was bitter and close to hysterical, but he seemed to have come out of the shock.
Showcross Gee was suddenly there, although no one had seen him step out of the darkness.
'When you gentlemen are through with your emotions, perhaps you would follow me?'
It was hardly a surprise that humanity ended in the way that it did. It had been trying for long enough. It was also probably a very good thing that they finally succeeded. If they'd ever managed to reconstruct their reality, the trouble that might have caused could have been of truly cosmic proportions. I am well aware that there are those among the New Generation who argue that we originals, who made the step into this afterlife, must have brought at least a vestige of humanity with us. This is a fundamental error. The final discorporation purged all humanity from us. After our departure there was nothing but the Cataclysm.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Showcross Gee extended an arm, inviting the DNA Cowboys to enter the strange shiftspace room.
'Right now we are powering up for the final transference.'
All signs of construction had gone from the place. The disk on the floor was fully complete and was suffused with a strange radiant energy, like a shaped block of marble in which colored veins pulsed with iridescent light. The underside of the floating pyramid rock was mirroring the glow. The other twenty-six metaphysicians were standing in a circle around the large disk. Their eyes were closed, and they seemed to be locked in deep concentration.
'It will be a half hour before we achieve full power and are able to make the crossing.'
Showcross Gee had still not adequately explained exactly what the crossing was. The Minstrel Boy had folded into himself, but Billy leaned close to Reave.
'What do you figure this rig is? Some sort of matter sender?'
Reave shrugged. 'I'm damned if I know. Apart from maybe Stuff Central, I never heard of anything that could beam matter through the nothings.'
'Maybe they cracked the secret.'
'Maybe. All things are possible.'
Showcross Gee caught the end of their conversation. 'Please be patient, gentlemen. I have to concentrate for the power-up right now, but all your questions will be answered when the time comes. Perhaps, for the moment,
