36Instinctively, Jed fell to his knees, hands clamped to his head, making himself as small as he could, waiting for the terrible sound to erupt inside his brain, a sound that would herald the end of his life. The darkness wrapped around him like a protecting veil. There was no pain, no swirling cascade of images from his past life. Nothing happened. He forced himself to realize that he still lived. Chancing a glance upwards, he saw Sullivan, picked out by the headlamps, trembling, g*n lowering, no longer pointing, but held limply, without desire. He's as confused as I am, thought Jed, but then stopped as a shape reared out of the blackness, and struck Sullivan across the head with something big and hard. With a guttural grunt, Sullivan collapsed to the ground, his face slapping into the di
