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the big parking lot in front. You'll see three buildings, but only one of them
is a big old place, like a huge house. Go up to the front door and wait, or
tell someone at the door to fetch me."
"Fair enough. Um, there's two of us. My wife will be with me."
"Okay, I'll tell the gate. See you in what? Ten minutes? Are you finished?"
"Pretty much, although it'll take the rug overnight to dry out. They patched
the roof already, so it won't happen again. Lemme drop the rented stuff off,
and then I'll be up. Half an hour, maybe? I don't want to hav'ta do nothin'
else once I lock up."
"Okay. It's four-twenty. By five, then."
"By five."
I hung up, somewhat excited. Wilma looked at me. "We're going right in there?"
I shook my head. "Not you and me. That wouldn't do no good, and we know they
got you made, anyway. Best you stay out until there's a reason for you to go
in. No, I was thinkin' of takin' Angel in on the bike with me. She's ridden
before."
"Angel!
Why?"
"She wants inside that big green pulsing bubble, don't she? This is the
closest we're likely to get for a while."
Angel was both excited and very scared at the idea of going in. "Suppose they
figger out we're ones o' them?" she worried. "I mean, if we kin read them,
some of them got to be able to figger us, right?"
"Maybe, but Alvarez can't," I assured her. "It's worth it. We won't even go
inside the building. These bodies we got, though, they're a little different
than the others. They was made by a patch. I think we got a connection to
what's really under all this that they don't have. Come or not, but I gotta
go. We can't do much without lots more risk anyway."
She relented, but I didn't know if it was really her decision or just how
easily she went along rather than fight over anything.
"You take it easy," Wilma cautioned. "In and out, no funny stuff. Not this
trip."
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"Don't worry," I assured her.
It was dark by the time we got ready and got on the bike and Angel held on to
me for dear life. When we went past the Dunkin' Donuts I almost flashed back,
but I said nothing. Still, it seemed all too familiar, the turn, the winding
road, the gatehouse up ahead not far from where that thing had come close to
denting the Porsche. I didn't recognize the men in the gatehouse, but they
were private security and changed regularly.
"Doc Alvarez asked us to come drop off her key and pick up my money," I
told them in my best hick accent. "She said she would tell you?"
The guard looked us over and frowned. "I'm not too sure..."
"Look, ain't no skin off my nose," I told him. "I'll be glad to call her and
say that you won't let us in and she'll hav'ta pick up her key and pay us
later."
"You can give us the key," he suggested.
I was getting irritated. "Ain't no way, bud. She owes me two hundred bucks for
spendin' all day cleanin' up her apartment. No bucks, no key."
He sighed. "Oh, all right. Here, you and the lady put these temporary passes
around your necks. Go straight to the front of the old house and wait. Don't
even get off the motorcycle. I'll call up there and she'll meet you.
Understand?"
"Yeah, fine with me," I assured him.
"No wandering around. Straight up and back. You can get shot going the wrong
place once you're in there," the guard warned. "Then you come right back out
on this same road and hand over those two passes and go."
"No sweat, boss."
He handed us the two tags, and I helped Angel get it around her neck and then
put the other over mine.
"What's the problem with her?" the guard asked.
"She's blind. Satisfied? She's really gonna be some threat, ain't she?"
Angel smiled, and the guard sort of gave a half-apologetic, half-growling
sound and shut the window. The gate went up, and we rolled on into the campus.
Almost as soon as we cleared the guard post we seemed to intersect the great
energy bubble, and then we were inside. There was a slight tingling sensation,
sort of like when the air's full of static electricity but without any sparks
or zaps, and we rolled on into the parking lot and then around and up to the
mansion. We were now almost in the middle of the pulsing blob,
and we could feel its power seep into us. It was heady, almost like an
overdose of something or maybe getting a little high.
Alvarez did not show up immediately, but I wasn't about to violate
instructions. Hell, I knew how mean security was here, and that was before
they'd been attacked. I could only imagine what it was now.
Finally, the door did open, and Rita Alvarez came out and then down the steps
and up to the bike, "I'm sorry you were stuck out here," she told me, sounding
seriously upset at the idea. "I told you to come up and wait inside if I was
delayed."
"Ma'am, the guard almost didn't let us in at all, and when he did he said we'd
be shot if we got off the bike, so we stayed on."
She flashed an angry expression back toward the road. "I'm going to have a
serious talk with them. Well, never mind. Will a check be okay?"
"I like cash best, but if you gotta, then make it out to Wilma Starblanket. I
can spell it if you need to."
"No, that's all right. Interesting name. Is that the young lady here?"
"No, that's my other lady. The one that helped me with the job. Angel here's
blind and can't do as much no more."
Alvarez frowned. "You poor child!" She fumbled, came up with some money.
"I can make an ATM later, I guess. This is a hundred and forty dollars. I can
give you that and make out a check for the rest or you can collect from me
tomorrow."
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"Check for the rest will do fine," I told her. "Save us both a trip."
She wrote the check by the light of my single headlight, tore it off, and gave
it to me with the cash. I stuck it in my jacket pocket and fumbled around and
found her house key, then handed it to her. "Thanks a lot for the business,
ma'am. Any old time, you know where I am."
She nodded. "Indeed I do. Thank you."
She turned to go, then turned back, gave us both a look, and seemed puzzled,
frowning, as if trying to see something else that might be there.
Angel turned and looked at her through sightless eyes.
You don't see nothin' funny
, she shot to the scientist mentally, and I could see the brief stream, like a
tiny line of yellow tracer bullets, go from Angel to Rita.
Just a couple of no-'count hillbillies handy for the dirty work.
Rita Alvarez stood there a second, as if frozen, then turned as if nothing had
happened and walked back into the building without looking back.
"You got that much power from this little trip?" I asked Angel, and she
smiled and hugged me.
"Honey babe, you can't believe what I think I kin do!"
"Shall I stick around and stall for a couple more minutes?"
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