Ground Zero Part 55

That word again ... and they were both looking at Darryl. Was that what this was all about? He'd entered the Orsa as Darryl and emerged as this poor, confused son of a b.i.t.c.h. Hank had a feeling a Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca was more than a poor, confused son of a b.i.t.c.h. was more than a poor, confused son of a b.i.t.c.h.

"So I see," the One said to Drexler. "You've done well, Ernst. Very well. I am pleased."

Drexler seemed to swell inside his stained white suit. He gave another little bow.

"We exist to serve."

We? Hank thought. Does that mean me too? Like h.e.l.l. Hank thought. Does that mean me too? Like h.e.l.l.

But he wasn't about to say that.

The One stepped forward and Darryl said, "Mother?"

"No." He looked down at him. "I am not your mother. You thirst? Then you must drink."

He pointed to the near end of the sagging Orsa, to where clear liquid trickled from a half-inch pore at its center. Darryl looked at the trickle, then back to the One.

"For me?"

The One nodded. "For you."

Hank recoiled as Darryl shuffled over on his knees and began to lap the fluid, swallowing greedily.

"Hey, Darryl, man, get off your knees. You're a Kicker and-"

Without looking at him, the One raised a hand and Hank stopped. He didn't want to, but his words dried up.

Drexler said, "He is no longer a Kicker. He has become the Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca and requires nourishment that only the Orsa can provide." and requires nourishment that only the Orsa can provide."

Okay, Hank thought. Time to ask.

"What's the Fhinntmanchca? Fhinntmanchca? What's it do?" What's it do?"

"It is the Maker of the Way," Drexler said.

"Those are just words. What do they mean? How do you 'make' a 'way'?"

The One spoke without taking his eyes off Darryl.

"Cataclysm."

7.

"In theory," the Lady said, leaning forward in the wingback chair, "when Opus Omega is completed, I will die."

Weezy felt a pang of dread as she stared at her. She'd known the Lady before as Mrs. Clevenger, simply another of the town's eccentrics. But now she felt a deep kins.h.i.+p, an intimate connection.

"Why do you say 'in theory'? Is there doubt?"

"Of course there is doubt. Opus Omega has yet to be completed and may never be completed. So until it becomes fact, it must remain theory."

Jack leaned on the round oak table. "But those scars on your back ... don't they mean that it's working, that burying those columns damages you?"

"They do."

"And that hole straight through you-"

"The Florida incident," she said with a curt nod.

Weezy was confused. "The Florida-?"

"Long story," Jack said, then turned back to the Lady. "Weren't you 'killed' then?"

"So it appeared. I cannot be harmed by anything of this world, but the creatures that devoured me were from the Other place."

... devoured ... the Other place devoured ... the Other place ... what were they talking about? Weezy was dying to know the details. ... what were they talking about? Weezy was dying to know the details.

"How did you come back?"

The Lady shook her head. "That I do not know. It should have been the end of me, but I survived. Perhaps if Opus Omega had progressed far enough along, I would not have come back."

Jack looked grim. "But the Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca is a product of Opus Omega. It might succeed where the chew wasps failed." is a product of Opus Omega. It might succeed where the chew wasps failed."

Chew wasps?

"True," the Lady said. "That is troublesome."

"But why attack you at all?" Weezy said.

"As the physical manifestation of the noosphere, I act as a beacon, proclaiming to the multiverse that this is a sentient planet. Should I be extinguished, this sphere will be seen as lifeless. The Ally, already rather neglectful, will lose all interest and turn entirely away."

"Giving the Otherness carte blanche."

An idea popped into Weezy's head. "What about an end run? Why doesn't it attack the noosphere?"

The Lady shook her head again. "By its very nature, the noosphere cannot be directly attacked. It is the product of all the interactions between the sentient beings on the planet. The only way to weaken it is to damage its population base-a deadly pandemic, a nuclear winter, that sort of thing. But that runs counter to the ends of the Otherness. The lower the population, the less fear and misery to feed on."

Jack chimed in. "But we know nothing about this Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca. Maybe it can can disrupt the noosphere." disrupt the noosphere."

The Lady appeared to consider that. "I don't see how, but ..."

"Let's just say it can," Weezy said.

"What would be the result?"

"A disrupted noosphere would disrupt me. I would vanish."

"And the beacon would go out."

The Lady nodded. "Leaving the Adversary a clear field."

"That's got to be it," Jack said, straightening. "Suck the life out of you by disrupting the noosphere. Looks like someone's got to disrupt this Fhinntmanchca first."

"You?" Weezy said, her heart clenching.

He looked at her. "Well, yeah, I guess. Don't see that there's much choice. If you can think of someone else, I'll be happy to step aside."

"What about Mister Veilleur?" "In case you didn't notice, Mister V isn't too agile these days."

"But you told me Diana said the Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca was dangerous and deadly." was dangerous and deadly."

He pointed to the Lady. "To her, we have to a.s.sume so. To us mere mortals ..." He shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Do you know where it is?" the Lady said as Jack headed for the front closet.

"Got a pretty good idea."

Dread filled Weezy as she watched him take the pistol from the shelf and stick it in the waistband of his jeans at the small of his back.

"You don't really think that's going to be of any use against this Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca thing, do you?" thing, do you?"

Another shrug. "Maybe, maybe not. But it works against people, and people brought that thing into this world, so maybe they can be persuaded to send it packing."

He disappeared into his room for a few minutes, then emerged stuffing things into his jeans pockets.

"You two wait here while I see what I can do."

Weezy had a sick, bad feeling about this. Something awful was about to happen.

"Be careful, Jack."

He gave her a tight smile. "Always."

And then he was out the door.

Weezy held back tears. "Will he be all right?"

"I cannot say," the Lady said, "because I do not know. This is all new."

"But why him? Why can't somebody else-?"

"Because there is no one else, and he knows that. So he does what needs to be done, or at least tries to. Though he hates it, though he wants no part of any of it, that is what he must do, because that is the way he is. That is the only way he knows, the only path he can see. That is why he was chosen as the Heir."

Jack ... her Jack ... skinny, funny Jack from Johnson ... she still couldn't accept it.

The Tracfone started ringing. She saw Eddie's number in the window. She thumbed the power off and put it back on the table.

"Your brother?" the Lady said.

Weezy nodded. "My brother, the Septimus." The word tasted like poison.

"Perhaps you should speak to him. He is blood, after all."

"I've spoken to him. And I'll speak to him again. But right now ..." She shook her head. "I can't."

Possibilities and probabilities collided in her brain, producing an awful scenario: Eddie helping the Order track her through the phone. She opened its rear compartment and disconnected the battery. Just to be sure.

"Come, then," the Lady said, rising and patting her hair. "We will walk. The air will be good for you."

"But Jack said-"

"I am the Lady. I go where I please."

8.

Hank shook his head in silent wonder.

Whatever was in that stuff leaking from the Orsa, it had a miraculous effect on Darryl. At least as far as his strength was concerned. Ten minutes after lapping at it he got to his feet, but he didn't seem any less confused. He now stood, swaying slightly, before the One.

"Mother?"

The One showed a hint of a smile. "Yes. Your mother. You want your mother, don't you."

Darryl nodded. "Mother."

"Do you know where she is?"

Another nod. "Mother."

He stepped aside and gestured toward the staircase. "Then by all means, go find her."

Hank watched Darryl move toward the stairs, leaving wet shoe prints. He started with a shuffle, then graduated to a slow walk.

"What's all this about 'mother'?" Hank said.

Drexler shook his head. "I don't know. We've embarked upon an uncharted sea."