Dead Mans Hand

11:00 A.M.

Lin's Curio Emporium was located near the nebulous boundary between Jokertown and Chinatown. It was surrounded by other quality stores and expensive restaurants. Outside it didn't really look like much. Inside it was understated elegance. The carpeting was deep, rich red. The lighting was subdued and intimate. The curio cases scattered on the floor were antiques themselves. The screens and silks and statues displayed on the walls and in the cases were superb examples of Oriental art dating as far back as the Shang dynasty, more than a thousand years before Christ.

Bre

Lin's collection of artifacts was really extraordinary. Bre

He approached the clerk, who asked in a musical, lilting voice, "Can I help you?"

Bre

"Ah, yes," she said, leaning forward. A frown creased her exquisite features as Bre

"Sorry," Bre

She looked at hirn quizzically as Je

He ignored her statement. "What's going on in back?"

"Wyrm's in the back office, in conference with a small, middle-aged Chinese woman."

"Sui Ma," Bre

"Kien's sister." He went past Je

Bre

There was a small, glassed-off office in one corner of the shipping area. Sui Ma was sitting behind a desk in the office and Wyrm was standing before her, packing a small suitcase.

Fadeout hadn't mentioned Sui Ma, Bre

Bre

"… with her dead the sssecret isss sssafffe," Wyrm said. There was no doubt in Bre

It was a startling entrance. Sui Ma gaped at him in astonishment, then Wyrm also turned to stare. Bre

"Yeoman!" Sui Ma said sharply. She didn't blubber or bluster, but cut right to the heart of the matter. "I thought that you and my brother had a truce!"

"We did," Bre

"What?" burst from both Sui Ma and Wyrm at the same time. Their feigned ignorance seemed almost believable. "Who told you that Wyrm killed Chrysalis?" Sui Ma demanded.

"I have my sources," Bre

Sui Ma burst out laughing. "Live for Tomorrow." Confused, Bre

Bre

"Yes. You see, Janice was killed in a car crash in yesterday's episode, so Jason's secret of actually being her love child is safe and he can marry Veronica."

"A soap opera?"

"Yes. Wyrm had missed a few episodes. I was filling him in while he packed his, uh, delivery."

"Sure," Bre

The hatred was still in Wyrm's eyes, but also something of a shameful expression, as if it'd just been revealed that he was some kind of hideous pervert. "Ssssometimesss," he said defensively.

Bre

"About what?" Wyrm hissed angrily.

"About Chrysalis!" Bre

Wyrm was about to make an angry reply when Je

"That'ssss right!" Wyrm spat out. "Well then, who's Erica married to?"

Wyrm gave her a cold look. "She just married Colby lasssst month," he said, "but what she doesn't know isss that Ralph, her first husssband, isss not dead. He hasss amnesia, and isss being exploited by terroristsss, who have convinced him that he issss Prince Rupert, a Takisian lordling, who hasss come to Earth to cure the virusss, but isss really-"

"All right," Bre

Je

"Christi" Bre

"Havana," Wyrm said sullenly. "Step away from the desk."

As Wyrm did, Bre

"Damn," Bre

"It appears," Bre

Wyrm hissed angrily as Bre

Noon

"What's going on?" Jay said when the jokers fell in beside him. No one answered. No one even seemed to hear him. There were a dozen or more, grim-faced, quiet, sober. An old man was sobbing, very softly, to himself. Jay looked back over his shoulder and saw more jokers following behind them. Everyone seemed to be headed in the same direction.