Īfter that he had climbed aboard the revitafized Machine to ride it out of the desert into a green and beautiful valley, and for some little time - though time as a real concept did not have a great deal of meaning here - he had followed a tinkling stream to where it cut a cleft through a range of high, domed hills. Not only was there no one there, there were nq signs that anyone had been there. Up and downstairs, the cellar, the attic, all the larger cupboards. It was crazy, ridiculous, but it was the only solution. Someone was here, in this very house, right now. Someone, some unknown but very real and physical one, had somehow been in here and turned down the fear-stimulation controls, releasing Garrison from his nightmares. And after that, if he found nothing and no one - which he suspected would be the case, for if there were a human adversary at work here he must be extremely clever and unlikely to let himself be discovered - then Wyatt must simply deny him access to the room of the machine, which he could do easily enough.īut between times, in the room of the machine. One sure way to check for outside interference would be, quite simply, to search the house from top to bottom. He had not noticed the missing milk or sandwiches. They seemed almost to shut him in.īy 5.15 A.M. They seemed to weigh on him with the weight of the Universe. The sin itself might be forgotten, but the darkness, the stifling closeness, the Scuttlers in the Shadows - these things he remembered. The cupboard under the stairs, the spiders which he had known inhabited that place, the unknown or forgotten sin (against what or whom he could not say) which had prompted his punishment. He remembered it now, remembered how it frightened him. Also, something of Psychomech's feeding on him: that is to say, he knew that the Machine had somehow drawn on his strength, or that he had applied his strength so as to 'make repairs' in the Machine.Īs a boy he had been shut in. Now Garrison could only remember the food and drink (though not the actual sensation of eating and drinking), and something of the feeling of well-being which had come afterwards. The desert had been just such a crisis an episode which, like the others before it, had now all but passed into the limbo of lost memories. Not before that time and never since, until now, had Garrison suffered claustrophobia. And at 6.30, after a hot shower, he allowed himself to fall asleep for two hours, only waking up at Tern's insistent ringing at the doorbell. Psychomech would do the job, he was sure. he felt an almost irresistible urge to check Garrison's condition, but somehow managed to fight it ?off. Lots of strong, black coffee.Īt 6.00 A.M. But first a wash and a shave, then coffee. By then everything must be under control Garrison dead, all records completely up to date, and Wyatt's own nerves steady once more. Terri would be here in a little over four hours.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |