Chapter TwentyI lifted my skirts and ran toward the sound. It was no time for tinkering with elevator engines, so I hauled my skirts higher and leapt up the stairs two at a time, then bolted along the hall toward the screaming. A few curious or edgy types peeped out from their rooms—several of them already dressed, metal outerwear included—but when they saw my face they ducked back inside, instinctively leaving the problem to me. I wished I could have had a few days to accustom the general population to the presence of my wife and siblings before we were on the eve of battle.
I skidded into one of the upper meeting rooms to see my metal soldier wielding twin blades at a frantic tangle of girl and velvet curtain.
‘Stop that at once!’ I yelled, and it did.
The curtains wriggled, producing
