Reprisal

As he edged closer to Veilleur, Bill felt a touch on his arm. Carol was beside him, watching her son in horror. Bill put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He had a feeling something awful was about to happen in the next room. He didn't want to see, but he could not look away.

"The power's left you, hasn't it?" Rasalom said, his face only inches from Veilleur's. "It's deserted this entire sphere. Which means I'm completely unopposed here." Rasalom laughed and backed away, spreading his arms and turning. "What an Armageddon this is! There's only one army here. The field is mine!"

He stood silent for a moment. Bill watched him stare at Veilleur—or Glaeken, if that was the old man's real name. The only sound was the gentle patter of rain outside. But there was a growing storm in Rasalom's face as it darkened with rage. Suddenly he screamed and lunged at Glaeken, each hand a blur as it knifed toward the old man's throat. Bill squeezed his eyes shut as Carol buried her face against his shoulder. But when there was no sound of impact, he chanced a look.

Rasalom's fingertips hovered a hairbreadth from Glaeken's unflinching skin.

"You'd welcome this, wouldn't you?" Rasalom said. "Then it would be all over for you. But as much as I would love to reach inside you and rip out your spine one vertebra at a time, it's not going to be that easy. No, Glaeken. I'm deferring that pleasure. I'm going to break you first. You've fought me for ages to protect this so-called civilization of yours, so I'm leaving you alive to watch how quickly it crumbles." He held a balled fist before Glaeken's eyes. "Your life's work, Glaeken"—he flicked his fingers open and snatched his hand away—"gone! And you're helpless to stop me. Helpless!"

Bill felt a tremor in the floor, then. He looked into Carol's frightened, troubled eyes and knew she felt it too. The tremor graduated to a shudder. Outside he heard a roaring sound, in die skies, growing louder. Suddenly all the windows exploded inward. Bill dove for the floor, taking Carol with him as a million shards of glass knifed through the air.

From the floor where he huddled with Carol, Bill chanced a peek at the two men in the front room. They were barely visible through the tornado of debris that whirled around them. And then there was another explosion, this one outward. It slammed Bill's head against the floor, stu

When he lifted his head, Bill saw Glaeken and Rasalom standing as they were before. Rasalom turned and looked at Bill, and in that instant he saw what was to come, a world of eternal darkness, a nightmare existence devoid not only of love and compassion, but of logic and reason as well, a night world of the spirit.

Rasalom smiled and turned away. He made a mocking bow toward Glaeken, then strode toward the blown-out front wall.

"I'll be back for you, Glaeken. When civilization is dead and the remnants of humankind are little more than maggots feeding upon its putrescent corpse, I'll be back to finish this."

And then he was out and into the rain and gone.

Carol began to sob against Bill's shoulder. He moved her away from the canted doorway to the ruined living room, away from the bodies of Re

"That's not Jim's son," she said with a quaking voice. "That's not my child."

"I don't think he ever was," Bill said. Holding her close, he turned his attention to the old man who still hadn't moved or spoken.

"Glaeken?" Bill said finally. "Is that what I should call you?"

"It will do," the old man said. It was almost a shock to hear his voice after his steadfast silence before Rasalom.

"What happens now? Can he do what he says?"

"Oh, yes/' Glaeken's blue eyes locked with Bill's. "From the start he has sought to claim our world for the power he serves, to make it a fit place for that power. So many of you these days think of this world as a terrible, violent place, but it is better now than it has ever been—believe me, I've seen the changes. But there is still more than enough hatred, bitterness, malice, violence, viciousness, brutality, and everyday cruelty behind our closed doors to make Rasalom strong enough to convert this world into a place suitable to his sponsor's needs. He will provide a fertile environment in which to germinate the seeds of evil in all of us. Love, trust, brotherhood, decency, logic, reason—he will sap them from humanity until we are all reduced to tiny islands of wailing despair."

"But how? Maybe he can cave in these walls, but that doesn't mean he can wave his hand and turn us all into beasts. We're tougher than that."

"Don't count on it. He will start with fear, his favorite weapon. It brings out the best in some, but in most by far it brings out the worst. War, hate, jealousy, racism—what are they but manifestations of fear?"

Carol lifted her head from Bill's shoulder.

"And nothing can stop him?" she said. "You stopped him before. Can't you—?"

"I'm not quite the same as the last time Rasalom and I met," Glaeken said with a sad smile. "The opposing power was tricked into going elsewhere."

"Then there's no hope?" Bill said.

He'd already been down where there was no hope. He didn't want to go back there again.

"I didn't say that," Glaeken said, his blue eyes focusing on Bill again. "We may be able to find someone to draw the power back. I'll need help. I think it would be quite fitting if you joined me. And you, Mrs. Treece? Will you sign up for our little army?"

Carol seemed to be in shock, but she managed a nod.

"Yes. Yes, I will."

"Excellent." Glaeken turned toward the door. "Let's go then."

"What about… them?" Bill said, glancing toward the bedroom door.

"We'll have to leave them."

Lisl… Re

"They deserve better than that."

"I don't disagree, but we can't afford to become involved with the police who are undoubtedly on their way as we speak. They'll detain us, perhaps even jail us, and we haven't a moment to lose."

Reluctantly, Bill was forced to accept the old man's logic. He and Carol followed Glaeken outside into the rain. He shivered with the chill of it.

"When will he begin?"

"I don't know," Glaeken said. "But I believe it will start in the heavens. That's his way. He may start subtly, so we must keep watching the skies so we won't miss his opening shot. We want to know when the war begins, and we have to be ready."

Bill glanced up and saw only the low, gray lid of clouds pressing down on them.

In the heavens… what would happen up there? He had a feeling that looking up would become a reflex in the weeks to come.

"But what can we do against a power like his?"

"There are a few things we can try." The old man's eyes narrowed with anger as he tapped the tip of his cane on the pavement. "He called me helpless," Glaeken said in a low voice, his blue eyes blazing for an instant. "No one has ever called me that. We'll see how helpless I am."