The beast was almost upon them as Dieter held out his hand to Hannah, who had fallen in her haste to reach the platform, and said, “Come on, just a little bit further. Take my hand, Valkyrie, and we shall escape down the slide together. Look, see, the beasts of prey are all distracted.”
She groaned, feeling for her ankle, which she had twisted in the fall, then reached for his hand and took it suddenly and firmly—even as the Nano-T crested the top of the staircase wall and began to reorient itself for the kill. Then he pulled her the rest of the way up suddenly and turned her to face the beast, whose snout was only a few feet away, and said, “Look, see how they are distracted. Look!”
And he pushed her into its maw, which closed about her head and shoulders and lifted her kicking and stru
