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Page 206
ing. He talked too slow and too loud, like he considered it a distinct possibility that the thing had fractured my ears. "You're . . . still . . . in . . . Chambers Bay . . . at . . . Palmer's . . . market."
It was now or never. In another ten minutes I would be too stiff to even attempt it. I pushed myself up on one elbow, heard someone tell me to take it easy and started recording facts. I had been in the halfway world long enough. They were all thereMadden, Caleb, B.C., Kendall and Ferrisplus a bunch of others that I suspected were there purely out of morbid curiosity.
"Is it true? Is that thing really alive or did I just dream it?"
"That can all wait until you're on your feet," B.C. cooed.
I swung my legs over the edge of the checkout counter and pushed myself into a sitting position. "Will sitting up do?" The sick little grin I forced didn't fool anyone.
Madden was the one who understood. When a man needs data, he needs data. "You're gonna find this tough to swallow, Researcher, but you were mauled by that thing we shot last night."
When you've had somebody pounding on your cage with a big stick, sometimes the things people tell you don't hang together. This was one of those times. "Will you repeat that?" I muttered.
Kendall moved in beside Madden. His

 
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