Necroscope

going.'

'The homework questions? I've done them.'

'What, here?' Ha

'It's quiet here,' Harry answered.

'Would you like to show me?'

Harry shrugged. 'If you like.' He passed over the work­ book.

Ha

Harry frowned. 'Is that the one with the grease-gun, where - ?' he began.

But Ha

Harry lowered his head a little, bit his lip, passed the book over. Ha

the measurements were internal; barrel and nozzle were cylindrical, full of grease; squeezed dry, how long would th e line of grease be?

' Harry looked at it. 'Didn't think it qualified,' he said. " Ha

Ha

'Not required,' said the other.

'Shit, Harry! It's pi times the radius squared times length equals contents. That's all you need to know. Look -' and he quickly scribbled in the workbook:

Contents of Barrel:

3.14159 x .75 x .75 x 4.5

3.14159 x .25 x .25

Contents of Nozzle: 3.14159 x .25 x .25 x 1.5

3.14159 x .25 x .25

He gave Harry the pencil back, said: 'There. After that most of it just cancels itself out. The divisor is of course the surface area of a cross-section of the line of grease.'

'A waste of time,' said Harry in such a way that Ha

'Explain yourself,' Ha

Harry glanced at the diagram, not at the teacher's suggested solution. 'The answer is three and a half feet,' he said. And again there was the same authority in his voice.

As Ha

'You went back to the classroom with Collins after the beach,' he accused. Td told him to lock up, but before he did you opened my desk, looked up the answers in the answer book there. I wouldn't have believed it of you, Keogh, but -'

'You're wrong,' Harry cut him short in that same flat, emotionless, precise voice. Now he stabbed at the diagram with his finger. 'Look at it for yourself. The first two questions required formulas, yes, but not this one. Given a diameter to four decimals, what's the surface area? That requires a formula. Given a surface area to four decimals, what's the radius? That requires almost the same formula in reverse. But this? Listen:

The barrel's diameter is three times greater than the nozzle's. The circle's area is therefore nine times greater. The barrel's length is three times greater. Three times nine is twenty-seven. The barrel contains twenty-seven times as much grease as the nozzle. Barrel and nozzle together therefore contain twenty-eight nozzles' worth. The nozzle is one and a half inches long. Twenty-eight times one and a half equals forty-two. And forty-two inches equals three and a half feet, sir...'

Ha

And now Ha

Harry stood up. His movements were stiff, automatic almost. 'Can I go now, sir?'

Ha

Harry walked off, his back straight, movements stiff. A few paces away he turned and looked back. A beam of sunlight striking through the trees caught his glasses, turning his eyes to stars. 'Formulae?' he said in that new, strange voice. 'I could give you formulae you haven't even dreamed of.'

And as the cold chill struck at his spine once more, Ha

Then... the maths master wanted to shout at the boy, run at him, even strike him. But his feet seemed rooted to the spot. All of the energy had gone out of him. He'd lost this round - completely. Trembling, he sat down again on the slab, leaning back weakly against the headstone as Harry Keogh walked away. He leaned there for a moment - then jerked forward, started upright, threw himself away from the grave. He tripped and sprawled on the close-cropped grass. Keogh was disap­pearing, lost among the markers.

The evening was warm - no, it was damned hot, even now - but George Ha