Page 36 (1/2)
Jiainst the wall between ts, the display of light quietly exploding around him "What’s the matter with you?" he asked
"It’s all too much," she said
"What is?" "Okay, it says it wants you to save special people"
"To help mankind" "Sure, sure," Holly said to the wall
To Jim she said, "But these people are all just too special, don’t you think? Maybe it’s ain
Nobody’s growing up to be just a daood doctor, or a businessman who creates a new industry and eous cop, or a terrific nurse No, they’re great diploreat peacereat!" "Is this adversarial journalisht"
He pushed away from the wall, used both hands to smooth his thick hair back from his forehead, and cocked his head at her "I see your point, why it’s starting to sound like another episode of Outer Limits to you, but let’s think about this It’s a crazy, extravagant situation A being froodlike to us, decides to use ical that he’d send me out to save special, really special people instead of your theoretical business tycoon?" "Oh, it’s logical," she said "It just doesn’t ring true to ot a fairly well-developed nose for deception"
"Is that why you were a great success as a reporter?" She e of an alien, vastly superior to hu ht she detected as an undercurrent in some of its previous ansas now unmistakable, and the concept of a hypersensitive, resentful creature with godlike poas too unnerving to be funny at the moment
"How’s that for a higher power?" she asked Ji to callher notebook again, she said, "July twentieth Steven Aih the walls The patterns were less graceful and less sensuous than before; if the lightshow had been the visual equivalent of one of Brahms’s most pacific sy of bad progressive jazz
"What about Steven Ai how an exertion of will had beennow" "That was a short tide," she said
The aan to darken
"The tides in the vessel are not regular or of equal duration But I will return " "What about Steven Aireat so in the tooth Why did you save Steve?" The voice grew so from baritone toward bass, and it hardened "It would not be wise for you to atte for that As soon as she heard the words, she knew she had been tensed in expectation of the around at the dark aain, as if trying to figure out the biological geography of the thing, so he could look it in the eyes "What do you mean by that? We’ll leave any time ant"
"You must wait for my return You will die if you attempt to leave
" "Don’t you want to help mankind any more?" Holly asked sharply
"Do not sleep" Jieressive stance with The Friend, was apparently behind them He put an arm around her protectively
"You dare not sleep" The lilow
"Dreaht went out
The lantern provided the only illumination And in the deeper darkness that followed The Friend’s departure, the quiet hiss of the burning gas was the only sound
Holly stood at the head of the stairs, shining a flashlight into the gloo to make up hertheher fro, he could not understand why it was all turning sour
He had co events in his bedrooo, hadthe dark side to the mystery in which he had beco to drift along, doing what he was co people out of the fire at the last ame superhero who had to rely on airplanes when he wanted to fly and who had to do his own laundry But the increasing intrusion of The Enemy-whatever the hell it was-its undeniable evil and fierce hostility, no longer allowed Ji to break through from some other place, another di closer on each atteher power behind his activities had not been at the top of his agenda, because he had felt that enlighten about The Eneently necessary for his survival-and Holly’s
Nevertheless, he had traveled to the farood as well as evil, experience joy as well as fear
Whatever he learned by plunging into the unknown should at least leave hi mission and the supernatural forces behind it But noas more confused than before he’d come Some developed: the ringing in the stone, for one; and the beautiful, alht that was the essence of The Friend He had been moved to rapture by the revelation that he was notpeople so special that their survival would improve the fate of the entire human race
But that spiritual bliss had been snatched away fro realization that The Friend was either not telling the the true at all ’The childish petulance of the creature was unnerving in the extre he had done since saving the Newsoood rather than evil
Yet his fear was still teed in his heart and begun to fester, that spiritual infection was held in check by the core of optiile, that had always been at the center of hiht, returned from the open door, and s down on her mattress "I don’t know, maybe it was an e till we try to leave"