48
“You are like flies on the ass of a hippo,” Florian said as he descended.
He, Tatiana, and Huxley jumped out of their wheels, touching down.
Grayson pushed Keltie back toward the group. He kept his handcoil near his face, at the ready.
“Hold your fire,” he whispered to Devika and Miller. “Something’s off.”
Florian clapped.
“Let’s have a cheer for the resident genius!” he said. “Bravo! Bravo!”
Florian gestured to the white hole. “I thought I might be able to get rid of a few of you that way.”
Silence. Florian stepped toward the hole, leaning forward, sniffing it.
“Can't you just smell the wonderful odor of vacuum? Because that's where it goes—into space.”
He laughed crazily.
“A white hole, a rare beauty of physics—and the only way out of this hell hole. White hole, hell hole,
