CHAPTER 3I woke up with a start. My neck ached abominably; so did the rest of me, as soon as I moved. I groaned, dragged my feet down off the desk, and sat up. There was something wrong. Winter was gone and the humming had stopped. I jumped up.
“Winter,” I shouted. I had a vivid picture of myself marooned in one of those hell-worlds. At that moment I realized I wasn’t half as afraid of arriving at Zero Zero as I was of not getting there.
Winter pushed the door open and glanced in. “I’ll be with you in a moment, Mr. Bayard,” he said. “We’ve arrived on schedule.”
I was nervous. The gun was gone. I told myself it was no worse than going to one of the ambassador’s receptions. My best bet was to walk in as though I’d thought of it myself.
The two bouncers came in, followed by Winter. One of
