PART 3: ETERNITY
After the hit from the blue fireball, Hawker lay still in the stairwell as the building collapsed around him. He covered his head with his hands and closed his eyes to keep out the dust. The ground shook as great chunks of masonry tumbled down, some missing him by scant millimeters. He was buried instead beneath a pile of fine dust and rubble. His only thought was to keep a breathing passage open, and his chief fear was suffocation. A bullet through the brain or an energy beam through the heart were quick ways to go, but a painful death was not his choice.
After a few minutes, the dust stopped settling. He waited a little longer to be sure, then slowly began digging out of the debris, up toward the light and air. He broke through and breathed deeply, taking in great lung
