Hosts rj-5 Read online

  That should give the cops reason enough to haul him in again, Jack thought. Keep the Unity away from Kate.

  Palmer skidded to a halt. "Right… right. Look, I've got to go back. I want to be there when the cops come. If we're in the right precinct, there's a good chance the detective on the case will be someone I know. I can put a bug in his ear."

  "And maybe get an eyewitness slant on the story as well?"

  Palmer grinned. "Damn right!"

  "Go for it. But I'm telling you, if the cops don't pick up Holdstock, I'll be paying him a visit myself."

  Palmer waved and trotted back toward the park. Jack headed east, thinking, You just might make it as big as you hope, kid—if you don't get killed trying.

  Back at his apartment he found Kate standing in the middle of the front room, waiting for him. She looked frazzled, her clothes wrinkled, as if she'd slept in them. And then he realized that that was just what she'd been doing. Not as if she had a choice. The only clothes she had were what she'd worn over here.

  "Someone just tried to kill me," he said, watching her closely for her reaction.

  Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, dear Lord! Who?"

  "Someone from the Unity ladies auxiliary."

  "What happened to her?"

  "I canceled her membership."

  Something not right here. Kate hadn't asked if he was okay, and didn't want him to explain his last remark. But then, all she had to do was look at him to know he was unhurt.

  Still…

  God damn this! He was afraid to turn his back on his own sister!

  Headed for the kitchen, mainly to busy himself in case his expression revealed his doubts, but he was hungry as well. Not much in the fridge except some wilted veggies left over from a ready-made salad he'd picked up at a take-out deli the other night. He grabbed a couple of carrot sticks.

  "What are you going to do?" Kate said. She'd followed him in.

  Munching on a carrot, he turned to her. "Of course, you realize this means war."

  "What? I don't—"

  "I'm not talking to you, Kate. I'm talking to the thing inside you. The Unity's in there listening, right?"

  She looked flustered. "I… I don't know. They haven't been bothering me today. Maybe they were too busy attacking you."

  "So you're still in control?"

  "Of course."

  As much as Jack wanted to, he wasn't buying. But he'd play it like he was.

  "Great. But when you hear from them again, tell them they just made a big mistake. Massive retaliation coming their way. Not sometime in the future—today. Soon as I catch a few Z's."

  Shoving the rest of the carrots into his mouth, Jack headed back to the front room where he settled into the recliner, leaned it back, and closed his eyes.

  But not all the way. He kept the lids parted a hairbreadth, just enough to catch any movement in the room.

  Definitely something different about Kate. She'd given him a full-fledged big sister lecture last time when he'd simply hinted that he might take direct action. This time, despite his issuing an outright death warrant, nothing. The attempt on his life could have changed her mind, but she hadn't offered even a token peep.

  So he'd tossed down the gauntlet. If they used Kate to respond, he'd know.

  Jack slowed and deepened his breathing, pretending to sleep. After a while he felt his muscles begin to relax, his thoughts drift, his eyes close all the way. Had to be careful here. The bad thing about pretending to sleep was sometimes it developed into the real thing.

  But the chair was comfortable, and since his illness he never felt as if he'd had enough sleep…

  And then Jack was bounding up from the chair and not sure why, but his nerve ends were tingling, his heart hammering. He blinked, looked, and shrank back when he saw Kate on the far side of the chair, his big meat-carving knife raised high in her trembling fist, her face impassive but dripping sweat. He glanced down and saw a glistening droplet on his left forearm. Must have dozed off… and that little bit of moisture alerted him.

  "Kate?" His voice quavered with shock and dismay.

  No answer, nothing in her eyes, but that raised arm looked as if it was at war with itself. They had her. The goddamn bastard Unity had her.

  Quickly he stepped around the chair and grabbed her arm. He pried the knife from her fingers, then tossed it across the room.

  "Come with me."

  Her legs were stiff as he guided her into the kitchen. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of this before.

  Keeping a tight grip on her with his left hand, he slammed the heel of his right palm against the door of his microwave once, twice, spider-webbing the glass.

  Now Kate began to struggle, trying to pull away, crying, "No, Jack! Please don't do that!"

  But he held her fast as he punched in a string of nines and hit the start button. As soon as the oven began humming, Kate stiffened, then collapsed against him.

  "Thank God, Jack! Thank God!"

  And then she began to cry, shuddering against him. He held her close as deep moaning sobs wracked her body. The sound, so full of fear and anguish, like the sole survivor of a train wreck that had taken the lives of all her family and friends, tore at his heart.

  What was he going to do? How was he going to fix this?

  5

  It took Kate a while but eventually she managed to regain her composure. The sudden removal of the Unity's influence—like emerging from the deepest, darkest oubliette into sunlight and fresh air—had released a flood of emotion.

  "I'm sorry, Jack," she said finally as she pulled away from him, but not too far. "I don't usually lose it but…"

  "Nothing usual about any of this," he said, staring at her. "Are you all right now?"

  Kate nodded but didn't really mean it. What did "all right" mean anymore?

  "You mean, am I me? Yes. The Unity's gone… for the moment at least." Off stage now, but she could sense it hovering in the wings. "But it's winning, Jack."

  His expression was stricken. "Don't say that, Kate."

  "It's true. With every passing hour 1 seem to be a little less me and a little more Unity. It's like this virulent malignancy, metastasizing throughout my body, multiplying in every organ and tissue, crowding out the healthy cells until I'm all tumor."

  "Kate—"

  "I was on the verge of killing you, Jack! If you hadn't woken up…"

  Her throat constricted around another sob as she envisioned that blade slicing into his chest, but she would not break down again. Time was too short.

  "You were fighting it. I could see that."

  "But what you couldn't see was that I was losing. Last night I completely stopped the knife, but—"

  "Last night?"

  "Yes! While you were in bed. Same knife, but I won. Today was different. It was stronger." She remembered her failing will, the resistance leaching out of her arm, and an ugly, tainted part of her whispering, Yes! Do it! Do it! "Another twenty or thirty seconds and…"

  "Jeez."

  "But the worst part is I'm starting to like it, Jack. It sickens me now, but when the Unity's with me… the love, the complete unconditional acceptance, the feeling of being part of something so much bigger and more important is like a drug, and the infiltrated part of my brain is succumbing."

  "But you're okay now."

  "Now. But I can't spend the rest of my life standing in front of a microwave."

  His eyes hardened. "Don't worry. You won't have to."

  She knew what he was thinking, but despite all she'd been through, the idea still appalled her.

  "The Unity had it in for you before, Jack, but now that you've killed Ellen it will really be after you."

  "Was that her name?"

  Kate nodded. "The Unity is reeling from her loss. They want you dead; they may set a trap for you."

  "Let them."

  "They're seven, and they can follow you without you knowing it. Think about it, Jack: seven minds, each knowing exactly what t
he others are thinking, what they're doing, what they're going to do."

  "But they'll be on my turf."

  "I've got a better idea." This had just occurred to her. "Get me away from New York, get me as far away as possible."

  "You mean where the Unity can't reach you?"

  "Yes. There has to be a limit to its range. If I can go far enough, to where I fall off its radar…"

  "If it can't find you, it can't rule you." As Jack reached for the phone his face lost the grim expression it had worn since he'd walked in. "I'll put us in the next two empty seats to California."

  "Wait," Kate said as another thought struck her. "Once I'm away from the microwave, what's to prevent me from telling the first cop I see that you're trying to kidnap me?"

  Jack's hand dropped back to his side. "Damn."

  "We can go by car."

  "Yeah, but what's to stop you from—"

  "You can tie me up." She shook her head as his eyes widened. "Don't look at me like that. Just because I'm a lesbian doesn't mean I have bondage fantasies too. I'm serious. Bind me, gag me, put me in a burlap sack, toss me into your trunk, and take me far away fast."

  "You're not kidding?"

  "Jack, you can't imagine what it's like to feel your soul being engulfed. Once I'm out of range, I can wait for the cure."

  "Let's think this through," he said slowly. "Let's say we get as far as Pittsburgh or Ohio tonight. How will we know if that's far enough?" He pointed to the cracked glass of the humming microwave. "I'm not buying a word you say once you're away from this."

  "Simple. We'll bring the oven with us. Every time we stop, you find a place to plug it in and test me. If I still need it, we keep on moving."

  He shook his head. "I don't like it, Kate. The idea of you in that trunk hour after hour…"

  The thought of being tied up in such a small space terrified her, but not as much as surrendering to the Unity.

  "It's a big trunk. Huge."

  "I don't know…"

  "You have a better idea?"

  "No." He sighed. "All right. But I'll need to get some rope—soft rope—and since I don't stock body bags, I'll have to find something to wrap you in. And I'll want to get quilts to give you some cushioning."

  "That means you have to go out and leave me."

  He nodded.

  The idea terrified her. "What if the microwave goes off?"

  "I've set it for the max. The timer's got over ninety-nine hours left on it."

  "Yesterday they were predicting storms for today. Are they still?"

  "I think so."

  "What if there's a power failure?"

  "That almost never happens."

  "But what if it does?"

  The grim lines returned to his face. "I don't know."

  "You do know: I become an enemy." And I lose control. And I stop being me. "We've got to try a test. I need to know how long I've got after the microwave goes off."

  "I don't think that's such a good—"

  "Please, Jack. We'll pause it for twenty seconds."

  "Ten."

  "Twenty, and then turn it back on. No matter what I say, turn it back on after twenty."

  "All right," he said, shaking his head. "But I don't like it."

  "I hate it." Her palms were moist already. "But I've got to know."

  "Ready?" He placed a finger over the PAUSE/CLEAR button—"Here goes"—and pressed it.

  As the oven's hum died, Kate watched the clock.

  "Five seconds," Jack said, eyes on his watch.

  Nothing yet.

  "Ten seconds."

  Still okay.

  And then another sort of hum, vocal instead of mechanical, accompanied by a flood of loving warmth… even the air around her seem to take on a golden glow.

  Kate, we've missed you so. Did he hurt you? You mustn't let him do that again.

  A flood of disjointed thoughts and impressions swirled and eddied around the words as they flowed through her.

  We need you, Kate. Now more than ever.

  "Fifteen seconds," Jack said.

  Why was he counting? she wondered. An instant ago he'd cracked the microwave oven's glass door and turned it on, but now it was off.

  "Sixteen."

  She sensed she had lost time. How much?

  "Seventeen."

  He must have started the oven and broken her contact with the Unity.

  Yes, Kate. He took you away from us for a long time. Is he going to do it again? Is that why he's counting?

  I don't know.

  "Eighteen."

  How long before he turns it back on?

  I don't know!

  Why didn't she know? He must not have told her.

  He mustn't turn it on again!

  She agreed. This was too good a feeling to lose. But then another part of her, a shrinking part, cried out to press the button herself.

  "Nineteen."

  She saw Jack reach for the start button.

  Stop him!

  "Wait, Jack." She gripped his arm. "Don't—"

  "Damn," he said and hit the button.

  NOOOoooo…

  Abruptly the hum and peach-glow warmth faded, replaced by the cold fluorescent reality of Jack's kitchen.

  "It got you, didn't it," he said.

  Kate nodded, fighting back a tide of depression. "Somewhere around twelve seconds."

  "Jeez."

  "But Jack, it was the strangest thing. Once the Unity came back I had no idea why you were counting. Neither did the Unity. Eventually it was obvious you were going to turn on the oven again, but I didn't know when. We'd agreed on twenty seconds but the memory was completely gone. The Unity appears to be blind to what I experience with the microwave running; so blind that my Unity self has no memory of it once the oven is turned off. It's like I'm two people now."

  "So can we risk leaving you alone?"

  "We'll have to, Jack. Just pick up what you need and get back here as soon as you can."

  "I can just wait till the storm passes."

  "No. Now's a good time. They've put you on a back burner to settle with later."

  Jack's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

  "I'm not sure. The Unity doesn't communicate solely by words. Feelings are a major mode, but half-formed thoughts and what I guess you'd simply have to call data filter through as well. I got the impression it's put the 'Jack problem' aside while it deals with something else, something it considers momentous."

  "Like what?"

  "The Great Leap, whatever that is. They were planning on assembling this evening for it. They'd been so sure about it before, but now I get the impression that with the loss of Ellen this Great Leap doesn't seem quite as inevitable as they'd thought. I sensed a lot of confusion."

  "Okay, but I still don't trust them."

  "And I sensed something else, Jack."

  "Like what?"

  She rubbed her upper arms against a sudden chill. "Something outside the Unity, but connected to it. Not controlling it, exactly, but… nudging it."

  Jack closed his eyes and sighed through his teeth. "The Otherness."

  "The what?"

  "Long story."

  "You're not getting off with that again. If this involves me, I want to know."

  He nodded, then, speaking rapidly, launched into a outlandish story about two huge opposing forces in conflict, with Earth and humanity as the prize.

  "Cosmic dualism," she interjected when he paused for breath. "I never would have imagined you a believer in that."

  "I'm not," he replied with a grim expression. "I'm a knower. There's a difference."

  "But a war between Good and Evil? That's so…"

  "It's not as simple as that. As it was explained to me, it's not a matter of good and evil, it's more like an endless conflict between a nameless force that's largely indifferent, and a truly evil one that some people have labeled the Otherness. But just so we don't start feeling too important, we aren't the big prize in this game; we
're a tiny piece in an obscure corner of their cosmic chessboard."

  "How do you know all this?"

  "Because somewhere along the way I became involved."

  "You? How?"

  "Not my idea. Got drafted somehow. But if the Unity virus is connected to the Otherness, that means you're involved too. Someone once told me that the Otherness feeds on the worst in us, and if that's so, I can see now how it'll use the Unity to bring that out."

  "But the Unity's goal is just the opposite. It wants to eliminate conflict by turning us into a single-minded herd of contented cows."

  "But before it reaches that goal—if it ever does—it's going to spark a global race war between the infected and uninfected, just like in my dream. And that's when the Otherness will chow down."

  The faces of Kevin and Lizzie loomed before her. "We've got to stop it… them."

  "I know. And the first step is to put you out of range. Once you're safe, we stop playing defense."

  He dragged a chair in from his front room.

  "Here. Might as well be comfortable while I'm running my errands." He started for the door, then turned. "I'm locking the door. If anyone knocks, it's not me, so don't budge from that spot. I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't go away."

  "Very funny."

  After the door closed, she heard the multiple latches snap closed. Then she was alone with the humming microwave… and through the open windows in the front room… was that a rumble of distant thunder?

  6

  "I don't see how that's any of your business," the man told Sandy and stepped back to shut his front door.

  Sandy put out a hand to stop it. "You know, don't you, that he was picked up for questioning about a murder in Queens?" he said quickly.

  The door stopped, then opened wider.

  That always got them.

  Back in Pelham Parkway for the second time in as many days, Sandy had been knocking on doors up and down Holdstock's block, trying to get a handle on what the neighbors knew about his cult. Not much, it turned out. The few who were home on a Monday afternoon were suspicious and reluctant to talk, but tended to open up when they learned that the police were interested in their neighbor as well.

  "You don't say?" the man said, stepping forward again.

  "Yes. That was yesterday. And today a member of a group that meets in his house was found murdered in Riverside Park."