He mentally lunged for disengagement… Disengage!
Fire! Like being bitten by a thousand scroaches. Light! Brighter than novafly exploding before his eyes.
DeJahn jerked. His eyes were open, saw only purple blackness, link-deep with no link. Every nerve in his body was a line of fire. Where was cool? Darkness? Easy… easy…
Whose voice? Knew the voice. Couldn’t place… couldn’t find.
“Who?” His voice rasped. Not his voice. Could tell he’d been screaming. Frig! Didn’t want to be a screamer.
A hand touched his. Warm, welcome… Yet… the warmth was fire, knifelike, daggers like the fangs of a chimbat, like the venom of a chimshrew.
“You’ll be all right, deJahn… be fine. Just disengagement link-shock…”
Just disengagement link-shock… link-shock… Sure, you’ll be fine. This time.
“Friggin… disengage…”
“You’ll be all right.” Meralez squeezed his hand once more. This time, there was no pain.
He managed to tighten his fingers around hers for a moment.
He would be fine. He was a tech.