and engulfed him. Though they covered his face, his muffled screams reverberated around the room. A thin, oily smoke began to seep out of the cracks between the feelers as the smell of searing flesh filled the air. Kathleen screamed again as the feelers retracted, pulling Carroway into the lens with them. His arm and hand clutching the switch lever in a death grip were the last to go, and as they disappeared from view they pulled on the lever with such force that it ripped the tape off the console and jerked it back into the upright position. The light from the screen flickered, dimmed, and vanished as the hum from the machines slowly faded.
As they stared dumbly at the now deserted console, the Arkentons became aware of a pounding on the door and shouts from the other side. Recovering quickly, Jeremiah groped his way over to the entrance in the darkness, turned on the lights, then unlocked and opened the door. There in the hall stood two security guards backed by Shrewsbury.
"Laban! What are you doing here?"
"I missed my flight." He and the guards entered the room. "There was a traffic jam on the highway. I came back to see how your investigation was getting along when I heard Kathy screaming. Is everything all right?"
Kathleen had joined the two men as the guards looked around the room. "You were right, Laban, we should have just destroyed it."
"We found out what happened to the researcher," Jeremiah said; "unfortunately the same thing happened to Carroway. We're sorry, we couldn't prevent it."
"It's not your fault, Jerry, Kathy, I was afraid something like this might happen. Theodore simply didn't know what he was involved in."
But Jeremiah shook his head. "I was just as anxious as he was to see the device work. However, I forgot two things. The first is that tachyons are particles, just like tardyons, except for their negative mass. They can be manipulated by energy fields, and they can interact with other particles to manipulate them. The second is that space is a bottomless abyss from which any kind of conceivable, or inconceivable, horror may emerge. The only difference between him and I was that I knew when to quit."
Kathleen turned to her husband. "What happened?"
He sounded uncharacteristically uncertain. "I think, that the creature somehow used the tachyon stream to reach out to Carroway." He looked at Shrewsbury. "We will tell you all about it at dinner, but as you said, a viewer with a strong enough will can affect what it sees."
Laban nodded his understanding, but before he could say anything, one of guards, who had come around the back of the macroscope, suddenly shrieked when he saw the console. He then turned away and began retching as the Arkentons and Shrewsbury hurried over.
There, lying on the console, was an arm, severed at the elbow, the skin blackened and blistered. Wrapped around it was what remained of a rapidly dissolving feeler.
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About the Author
Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.
Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing. Most of his works will be sold as ebooks through various online retailers, but he also plans to make some available for free exclusively on Goodreads.
He writes primarily speculative fiction--fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres--but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no matter how subtle.
Most of his stories involve the following three main characters:
Medb hErenn [https://www.medbherenn.com/]--One-time queen of Ireland, she is over 3500 years old. A warrior and a sorceress, she cannot be harmed by any weapon made by the hand of man.
Eile and Sunny, Team Girl [https://www.teamgirlforever.com/]--They are two adorable, vivacious, fun-loving young women whose motto is ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!!! Yet trouble follows them like a love-sick puppy wherever they go.
Sir Differel Van Helsing [https://www.sir-differel.com/]--The descendent of Abraham Van Helsing and King Arthur, she heads the Caerleon Order, the premier monster-hunting organization of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She commands Dracula, the most powerful vampire extant, and the greatsword Caliburn, better known as Excalibur.
He also writes a series of sword & sorcery stories set in an alternative universe known as the Lands of the Dreams of Men.
Kevin lives in Denver with his family and 4 cats.
For more information, see the Songs of the Seanchai [https://www.seanchaisongs.com/].
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Discover other titles by Kevin L. O'Brien:
A fidus Aranea, Barbarians R Us, The Christmas Vampires, Dark Vengeance, Disposable Commodities, Do Unto Others, Feline Savior, Gourmand Hag, Gratuitous Crossover, Immanuel, The Lions of Inganok, Man Friday, Masie's Mind, No Torrent Like Greed, Oak Do Hate, Post-Traumatic Redemption, Pride and Fall, Sacrificial Offering, Shenanigans
Enjoy these other titles at fine ebook retailers everywhere.
Available on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/story/list/20075368
Adventurer's Honeymoon, The Beast of Exmoor, A Deliberation of Morality, The Denver Walker, The Golden Mushroom, Gruff Tolls, Jigsaw Dragon, The Peril Gem, Rhapsody in Orange, Steel Gazelle, Youthful Indiscretion
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Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien Online:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KLOB_writer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.l.obrien.1
Website: https://www.seanchaisongs.com/
DeviantArt: https://teamgirl-differel.deviantart.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Kevin_L_OBrien
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Sample Excerpts
From "Pride and Fall"
Of all the bathhouses in the city of Ulthar, the Roman bath of Gaius Quintus Cornelius was the most popular. Like most of the other establishments, it catered to both sexes; unlike all but one, it did not segregate on the basis of gender but allowed men and women to mingle. Yet it was not a pleasure house, where couples openly fraternized. It was instead a serious establishment, devoted to promoting good health. Patrons tended to follow the same routine. They would undress in the locker room, and proceed out into the large, central courtyard to exercise and play sports. From there they would enter the hot room, to purge their bodies through sweat, cleanse their skins with oil and abrasive scrubbing, and wash off in the heated pool, before taking a dip in the adjacent cold bath. They then spent most of their time in the large tepid pool. Most patrons ended their visit in the commissary, replenishing themselves with food and drink, before returning to the locker room to dress.
People came to the bath as much to socialize as to bathe. Some business was transacted there, but mostly the patrons gossiped and debated while playing chess, dominoes, and dice, swam leisurely around the pool, or lounged beside it. A favorite pastime was to swap stories, the more outlandish the better, and adventurers who had returned from their latest quest were welcomed with great anticipation. Medb hErenn came three times a week when she was in Ulthar, to keep in shape, to catch up on the latest news, and to flirt, but also to hear any new stories. She preferred not to tell any of her own, but there were a few rare exceptions.
One day during her second year in the Dreamworld, she met a trio of adventurers in the exercise yard. She accompanied them to each of the three baths, where they regaled her with accounts of their exploits. She knew they expected her to reciprocate, but she waited until they arrived in the commissary and laid themselves on couches around a table. Even then, she began only after an attendant brought them their fruit and wine, and they toasted their mutual good fortune and continued success.
I have traveled the
length and breadth of the Six Kingdoms on business for Seidhloch the Moneylender, even to the Desert of Cuppar-Numbo and the gates of the city of Ogrothan on the shore of the Cerenarian Sea. I have faced many dangers, but none that were a serious threat until the day I encountered of the Upas Tree.
I was resting in marbled Oonai of the gilded domes, partaking of its pleasures and entertainments, when I heard tell of a valley deep in the Karthian Hills, a poisoned hollow devoid of all growth and life, save for the Upas. My informant, a handsome young dancer with whom I had spent the night, told me of it as we breakfasted in a tavern.
"I have heard tell of the Upas Tree all my life. I once asked my mother..." He paused as a strange look flickered across his face, as if hate, sorrow, and longing warred for dominance. I noted it, but thought little of it. Then his expression returned to normal as he smiled and continued.
"I asked my mother one time how deadly it was, and what I should do if I ever saw it. She replied that it was so deadly, a bird would fall from the sky if just its shadow touched the bark as it flew overhead. And if I did happen to see it, that I could be afraid but should not show it, for I would already be dead, even though I might not know it."
I