When she heard the metallic rattle of keys and the snick of the lock opening, she said a quick, silent prayer of thanks.

He heard a sharp click, like a lock opening or a trigger released, and he threw himself down just as a slender thread of brilliant red fire lanced overhead.

He felt the lock opening of the small lifeship under his groping hands, his blood-flooded eyes only able to make out shadows before him.

Please clear lock opening.

For a moment he wasn't sure if the sudden give and click was the lock opening or the key breaking but then the door almost unbalanced him by swinging open.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Paisley poised in the lock opening; beyond the girl, a figure in purple halted, curious, in the station corridor.

You call off the lock opening, and I'll . . . I'll let you have part of the Earth's history for your circus.

Her first impulse was to grab the com unit beside the bed and call hotel security, but then she heard the faint click of the lock opening.

The snap of the lock opening sounded loud in the absolute silence, and the white-coated visitor, momentarily framed in the faint light from the hallway, was gone.

There was the sound of the outer lock opening.