Ground Zero

Easy for you to say.

He stared at the thing. The light reflecting off its dull surface partially obscured the vein of brown dust within. He adjusted his angle to study it. He wondered how it had got in there. Then again, what did it matter? He had to get it out.

Okay. Here goes.

He slipped his fingers into the groove and felt the Orsa’s surface ripple as he touched it. He stifled his own ripple—of revulsion—and kept his grip. Leaning back he began to pull and twist.

The plug moved surprisingly easily, almost as though the Orsa was helping to push it out. Darryl didn’t know if he liked that idea. But maybe the Orsa wanted to be rid of it, like getting a splinter removed from its skin.

He thought of that old story about somebody removing a splinter from a lion’s paw, and then the lion becoming his friend. Maybe that was how this worked. If he removed the plug, the Orsa would be his friend and cure him.

Finally it released with a slurping pop! He could have sworn he heard the Orsa sigh as the plug fell into his hands.

“Excellent,” Drexler said. “Now, begin removing the compound.”

Darryl stared at the pocket left by the plug. A ways beyond it lay the vein of dust. He reached in, immersing his arm to the shoulder.

“Hey, it’s warm in here and kind of wet.”

“Does it smell like fish?” Hank said.

“Not fu

Thankfully it didn’t smell like anything.

His questing fingers found the compound and he pulled out a handful. He stared at it. Brown and powdery, with little flecks of what looked like fine gravel.

Are you the stuff that’s go

“Okay. I got some.”

“You must remove it all.”

He looked at the vein. It ran pretty far in.

“All? How am I go

“By doing what is necessary.”

“You can do it, Darryl,” Hank said.

I don’t need a cheerleader, Darryl thought. I need someone to do this for me.

But since no one was going to volunteer . . .

He dumped the compound into the bin and returned to his task. He stretched as far as he could, removed more, but the rest was beyond his reach.

He turned to Hank and Drexler. “I’ll need a hoe or something to get the rest out.”

“No-no!” Drexler said, waving his hands. “You might damage the i

“Okay, then, how do I get to the rest?”

“Just crawl in and get it,” Hank said. “Let’s get this done with.”

Darryl stared at the opening and didn’t like that idea one bit. Something about this thing made him afraid. But he didn’t see any way around it.

“Inside,” Drexler said. “You must enter to retrieve the rest. And don’t forget: You will be cured not only of AIDS, but of every illness hidden in your body. If you have a cancer, it will be gone; if you have hardened arteries, they will be cleared.”

Well, that didn’t sound so bad.

“All right. I’m going, I’m going.”

He put one arm in, followed by the other. Then, taking a deep breath, he ducked and slipped his head and shoulders inside.

Warm in here . . . much warmer than he’d figured. Light from the room filtered through. The sides of the cavity were softer than around the plug, and much, much softer than the Orsa’s hide.

But forget about that—just grab as much of this junk as you can and get out.

Even better: Start grabbing the compound and pushing it behind him—the tight space made it hard but it was doable. That way he could scoop it up once he slid back out.

He cleared out the new area of the vein within reach. The dust seemed lumpier here.

Almost to the end. Just a little more and he’d be finished. As he inched farther in, he thought he felt the sides tremble. He froze, waiting to feel it again, wondering if he’d really felt it.

All remained still. Maybe he’d caused it himself. Maybe he’d just felt his own vibrations. More than ever now he wanted to get out of here ASAP.

The urgency pushed him forward again, stretching his fingers toward the final deposit. He grabbed a handful and felt some larger lumps. He pulled it closer and opened his hand. In the dim light the lumps had definite shapes. They looked familiar. Almost like—

Teeth! These were human teeth!

Just then the sides trembled again, but this time they tightened against him.

No!

He began a frantic struggle backward, pushing as hard as he could against the slick, rubbery surface, but his hands slipped and the space grew even smaller.

He screamed.

The walls began to weep a clear, sour fluid that pressed against his face. He sealed his lips against it but it ran in through his nostrils. It soaked through his clothes and into his skin. And then the trembling in the walls organized into ripples ru

The walls tightened further, molding to him, sealing against him until he couldn’t move a finger. He tried to scream again but the walls were so tight he couldn’t draw a breath. He loosed a strangled groan that allowed the fluid to rush into his mouth. It ran down his throat, seeping through his tissues from within and without.

As his vision and consciousness dimmed he saw the hazy figures of Hank and Drexler through the encasing semitransparent walls. One figure struggling to move his way and the other holding him back.

Drexler! He knew all along! He set me up!

13

“An awful lot to absorb,” Jack said as he exited the Brooklyn Battery Tu

He’d degaraged his own car for this trip, and the big black Crown Victoria moved easily into the flow. Traffic on the dreaded Brooklyn-Queens Expressway wasn’t bad at the moment, but come 4 P.M. it would start to thicken into motorized sludge.

In a way he wished it were later. He knew a couple of good Russian restaurants out where they were headed. He could treat Weezy to some primo borscht. Wouldn’t mind a little himself.

But she looked too dazed to eat. He felt sorry for her. What he’d learned in an incremental process over the past two years had been dumped on her in a matter of an hour. She slumped in the passenger seat with the Compendium-laden backpack clutched against her chest like the handbag of an Omaha matron crossing Times Square.

“Yeah, a lot,” she said after a bit. “I’ve been accused of having wild theories, but they’re flat-out nothing compared to the reality you three just laid on me. Even though this doesn’t contradict anything I’ve assumed or conjectured, it’s going to take a while to sink in. I knew the truth behind the Secret History was big, but I never dreamed it was this big.”

“Big as it gets.”

“Who’s this ‘Adversary’ Mister Veilleur was talking about?”

“He’s the Otherness’s point man.”

“Does he have a name?”

“He does.” Rasalom. “But we don’t speak it.”

“Why not?”

“Because he hears, and then he comes looking for whoever’s taking his name in vain. So why don’t we just call him ‘R’?”

“Is he as scary as you’re making him sound?”

“Ohhhhh, yeah,” Jack said as memories flooded back. “I’ve seen him walk on water and float in the air, and he can paralyze you with a look.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Weezy looked at him. “No, I can see by your face you’re not. He did it to you, didn’t he.”

He nodded. “Twice.”

“So he had you in his power and he released you. That doesn’t make sense, unless he doesn’t know you’re the Heir.”

“Oh, he knows. The first time, he let me go because he said killing me then would spare me the pain that lay ahead in my life, and he didn’t want to do that.”

“Pain? Did he mean your father? I heard about that. What a terrible thing to happen to such a nice man.”