The Klaatu Terminus (26 page)

“I’m surprised we haven’t blown up already,” Tucker said. “There’s a fire in the hearth upstairs. It could go any second now.”

Gheen’s eyes flicked toward the ceiling, then back to Tucker.

“I do not care how you and the Yar die,” he growled. “Tamm?”

Tamm had managed to stand up, blood running from his broken lips. Gheen gestured at Emma, who was lying stunned on the floor.

“Take her if you wish.”

Tamm grabbed Emma’s wrist and dragged her out the doorway. Gheen glanced at the unconscious Jonas. “Leave him.” Gheen snatched up the rifle Tamm had dropped and started toward the door. He stopped abruptly and looked back at the row of diskos. The second disko from the left was turning green and emitting a staticky sound.

The disko’s surface bulged and crackled. Tucker stepped back. Gheen raised the rifle.

An enormous, black- and orange-spotted nightmare erupted from the disko. The jaguar landed on all fours in the middle of the barn and let out an ear-piercing snarl of rage and fear. Stunned by the cat’s size and presence, Tucker froze. He was so close he could feel the heat coming off the jaguar’s body. Teeth bared, the big cat swiveled its head, yellow-green eyes taking in its surroundings.

Gheen fired the rifle. The shot went wide. The jaguar saw the open door and leaped. Koan, standing in the doorway, screamed as the big cat’s claws ripped through his flesh, sweeping him out of the way. The jaguar was gone. Koan collapsed, blood running copiously from four parallel slashes through his throat.

Tucker, Lia, and Gheen stood paralyzed, unable to take in what had just happened. Gheen recovered first, making a move for the door, but he was blocked by a large, black-clad figure carrying a shotgun.

Kosh.

M
OMENTS BEFORE
, K
OSH HAD BEEN COMING AROUND
the end of the barn, when he saw Tamm dragging Emma toward the SUV. Tamm wrestled her into the passenger seat, ran around the vehicle, and jumped into the other side. A second later, cursing, Tamm got out of the vehicle, only to find Kosh leaning against the back fender, dangling a set of car keys from one finger, holding a shotgun in his other hand.

Tamm held his hands up and took a step back. Kosh put the keys in his pocket. “Don’t worry,” he said, lowering the weapon. “I’m not gonna shoot you.”

Tamm took that as permission to attack. He ran at Kosh, who brought the shotgun up hard. The heavy double-barrel struck Tamm’s chin with an audible crack. Tamm went down. Kosh rushed around the SUV and checked on Emma. She was woozy, but she recognized him.

“In the barn . . .” she said, with a weak wave of her hand. Kosh looked at the barn just as a giant orange-and-black cat leaped from the doorway with a horrendous screech and landed a few yards away, between the barn and the SUV.

A leopard?
Kosh raised the shotgun. The cat took off toward the trees and melted into the woods. Kosh ran to the barn, where he almost tripped over Koan, who was lying in the doorway. Tucker, Lia, and the priest called Gheen were standing inside, looking as shocked and confused as Kosh felt. Kosh trained the shotgun on Gheen.

“Hey kid,” he said to Tucker, “you want to tell me what
that
was?”

“That was a jaguar,” Tucker said.

“A jaguar,” Kosh repeated. He looked down at Koan. Blood was pumping with alarming speed from Koan’s throat. His fading eyes found Kosh, then went still.

“We have to get out of here,” Tucker said. “Now!”

Kosh sniffed the air. “Have you been messing with my stove again?” he said. His eyes widened as he realized what a barn full of propane meant.

“Yes!” Tucker said. “Come on!” He grabbed Lia’s sleeve and started toward the door.

Gheen, seeing his chance, made a dash for the nearest disko.

“No!” Lia tore free from Tucker’s grasp and dove after Gheen. She grabbed the back of his jacket as the disko flashed orange. Lia and Gheen were gone.

Tucker started toward the disko.

“Don’t do it, kid,” Kosh said.

Tucker hesitated and looked back at Kosh.

Kosh said, “C’mon, Tucker. Let’s get out of here.”

“You get out,” Tucker said. “I’m going after her.”

“If you jump into that thing, I’m coming after you.”

“What about Emma?” Tucker said. “You can’t just leave her here.”

He had a point. Tamm might wake up anytime, and Kosh wasn’t sure how badly Emma was injured.

“This place is gonna blow any second,” Tucker said.

The gas smell was stronger than ever. Kosh knew there was no way he could stop Tucker from jumping into that disko short of shooting him.

“Kosh, behind you!” Tucker said.

Kosh spun around. The youngest Lamb, who had been slumped unconscious against the wall, was on his feet, holding a bound ledger. Clutching the ledger to his chest, he jumped over Koan’s body and ran out the door. Kosh let him go.

“Take care of Emma, Kosh.”

Kosh nodded. “Good luck, kid.”

He had almost reached the SUV when the barn exploded.

Tucker saw and felt it happen as he dove for the disko. Time slowed to a crawl. He felt a pressure in his ears, saw the blue billow of igniting gas plunging from the stairwell. The ceiling above bowed as if pressed down by the weight of a planet. The disko seemed a mile away; he felt suspended in midair. The heat and pressure struck, slamming him to the floor. He bounced once, and then felt nothing.

The rift between Iyl Rayn and the Gnomon leader Chayhim became an embarrassment to the Cluster. Those Klaatu who used the diskos were assumed to be aligned with Iyl Rayn, and found themselves shunned by the Klaatu who agreed with the Gnomon. By the same token, Klaatu who voiced their support for Chayhim were ridiculed by Iyl Rayn and her allies, who regarded them as stodgy and unimaginative. Many Klaatu removed themselves to the outer reaches of the Cluster, where they were insulated from Klaatu politics and the negative flux that accompanied such interactions.

Communications between the factions had been nonexistent for some months when Chayhim received a friendly pulse from Iyl Rayn, requesting a dialogue.

“There is nothing to discuss,” Chayhim said. “We are proceeding with the Timesweep program, despite your objections.”

Iyl Rayn made a placating gesture and said, “My previous objections may have been overstated.”

Chayhim expressed surprise.

Iyl Rayn continued. “Upon reflection, I have become persuaded of the correctness of your actions. I will assist you in dismantling the diskos.”

“May I ask what has led you to this epiphany?” Chayhim asked suspiciously.

“I need your help.”

Chayhim waited for elucidation.

Iyl Rayn said, “In short, I need the use of one of your Timesweeps.”

“For what purpose?”

“It is a small matter,” said Iyl Rayn with a shruglike flutter of her extremities. “There are a few minor adjustments I wish to make before the dismantlement begins.”

—
E
³

H
OPEWELL
, D
ECEMBER, 1997 CE

T
WO DAYS BEFORE
C
HRISTMAS
, K
OSH AND
E
MILY SAT IN
Adrian’s car, parked just down the road from her house, holding each other.

“I wish we could spend Christmas Eve together,” Emily said. “But Greta . . . I think she suspects.”

“We’ll have to tell her sooner or later.”

“I know, but . . . oh Kosh, what have we done? What will we do when Adrian comes back?”

“We’ll just tell him,” Kosh said, trying to sound confident, even as the thought of confronting Adrian filled him with dread.

Emily sighed and pressed her cheek to his chest. They sat in the car without speaking, letting the windows fog over. After a time, Emily’s breathing grew ragged, and Kosh realized she was crying.

“Emily? Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry.” She pushed back from him and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“What’s the matter?”

Emily shook her head, saying, “Please. Let’s not talk.” She smiled, but her eyes were wet with tears. “I’m just . . . I just love you so much.”

“Me too,” he said, his voice husky.

“I have to get home.”

“Okay.” Kosh was confused. He started the car, turned up the defroster, and wiped the windshield clear with his hand.

Emily sat back in her seat and sighed. “At least we have a little more time. Adrian won’t be home for another month.”

“I was just thinking that,” said Kosh.

The morning of Christmas Eve, with nothing else to do, Kosh decided to cook a turkey, even though it would take him a week to eat the whole thing. He called Frank McDermott, who raised turkeys, and arranged to pick up a fresh bird. By noon, he had the bird stuffed, trussed, larded, and in the oven. He then set about making an apple pie, something he had never before done without Emily’s help. He worked carefully, cutting the butter into the flour until the crumbs were like coarse sand, performing every step as if Emily were watching over his shoulder. At moments, he felt as if he could hear her breath, and smell the scent of her hair.

He worked through the afternoon. Mashed potatoes. Green beans he had grown in his garden and put up four months ago. Squash, biscuits, braised parsnips, cherry preserve, chopped salad, and a noodle hot dish from a recipe left behind by his mother. At five o’clock he took the turkey out of the oven to let it rest, and made giblet gravy from the drippings. He set the table for one and sat looking over the spread. A masterpiece. He searched inside himself for the desire to eat, but could find nothing resembling an appetite.

He had never been so lonely.

At four o’clock on Christmas Eve, Adrian Feye landed at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.

Backpack over his shoulder, Adrian walked through the airport, his head whirling with amazement at all that surrounded him. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he had been on his knees in Jerusalem, in the Old City, praying before a stone wall more than twenty-five hundred years old. Now he was surrounded by plastic and metal and glass and hurried, harried people in suits and brightly colored clothing. A few of them were talking into small portable phones, what they called cell phones. It was another world. A godless world. He picked up his pace, almost running. He could hardly wait to get home, to share all he had learned with Emily.

He had planned to stay in Jerusalem another month, but his dreams of Emily had become more frequent, more intense. Convinced that the Lord was calling him home, Adrian had found an early flight back to the states. He would rent a car at the airport, drive straight to Hopewell, and surprise Emily on Christmas Eve.

Emily!
How he longed to see her again. His months in the Holy Land had been the most profound experience of his life. He had trod upon the ground where Christ had walked with his disciples. He had stood upon the Temple Mount. He had felt God speaking to him from every stone, every tree, every breath of dry, dusty air. And every night, he had dreamed of Emily, of Hopewell, of the work to be done.