Graham Masterton Tengu

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At last Calsbeek came over and stood beside Skrolnik with an expression that
put Pullet in mind of a cartoon bulldog who has discovered that bones can fly.
"I don't know how the hell I'm going to report this," he said. "I've already
filed a memorandum saying the guy's dead. Now I've got to file another one
saying he came to life again, and we killed him for a second time."
Skrolnik watched the Tengu's corpse sputter and glow, and the ashes blow away
in the evening wind.
"Shit," he said, and limped back to his car, followed by a silent Pullet.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Los Angefes Times carried the headline ADMIRAL slain by 'dead'
killer assassin, 'fatally' shot by
POLICE, REVIVES TO FINISH OFF THWARTED MURDER
mission.
Mack Holt read the story carefully, sniffing from time to time, and then
passed the newspaper back to Jerry Sennett
Tengu
305
with a shrug. "I agree with you. It sounds like this Tengu stuff is all true,
and it's happening here. But what am J supposed to do about it? I cared for
Sherry, you know that. I really cared about her a lot. But it's not my
responsibility, any of it. I mean, what moral justification can there possibly
be for me to attack some farm somewhere, out at Pacoima, and start shooting up
a whole lot of Japanese I've never even met?"
Jerry pointed to the penultimate paragraph in the news story. "Sgt. Skrolnik
revealed that certain Japanese artifacts, including two samurai swords, had
been discovered close to the scene of the crime. He expressed the opinion that
they were directly linked to the murder of Admiral Thorson, although he was
not yet prepared to say how or why.''
Mack settled back on his saggy sofa and crossed his ankles. Olive was sitting
beside him in a yellow UCLA T-shirt and nothing else, idly scratching and
stroking at the blond curls at the back of his neck with her clawlike
fingernails.
Jerry said empthatically, "The only two people the Tengus have tried to kill
so far are Admiral Thorson who's dead, at the second attempt and me. As far
as I know, Admiral Thorson and I were the only two surviving servicemen left
in the entire United States who knew right from the very beginning, what the
whole Appomattox mission was all about. And even / didn't know everything that
was going on until the A-bomb had actually been dropped. There must be plenty
of senior officers in the Naval Intelligence Command today who have access to
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the files on Appomattox; and I'm sure that successive Presidents have been
alerted to what went on. But, as of last week, only two people in the whole
damned country could have known immediately what was happening if they heard
on the news about Japanese killers who were impervious to bullets, and had the
strength of five men put together. Me, and Admiral Thorson. And that must be
why they went for us."
306
Tengu
Tengu
307
"I still don't understand," said Olive, running a nail around Mack's earlobe.
"Why should they want to kill you or something which happened such a long time
ago? Supposing you did find out that someone had been making these
Tengu-people? So what?"
"I don't know," said Jerry. "All I can guess is that they're intending to use
the Tengus for something really spectacular. A bank robbery, maybe. Or maybe
they want to assassinate the President. The President's supposed to be taking
a vacation at Rancho Cielo next month, isn' he? Maybe it's some kind of weird
retaliation against American trade restrictions on Japanese cars. I just don't
have any idea. All I knnow is that they wanted both me and Admiral Thorson
dead, presumably so that we couldn't tell any tales."
"Didn't Crowley know what was going on?" asked
Mack.
Jerry shook his head. "He suspected there was more to the Tengu program than
building up a team of bodyguards, but he didn't have any coherent ideas about
what it might be."
"You believe him?"
"I don't think I have much choice."
Mack said, "You really want us to help you break into that place, and rescue
your son?"
Jerry pulled a noncommittal face. "I can't force you to help me."
"But that's really dangerous, man," said Olive. "Any one of you could get
killed."
Jerry said, "It's a risk I've got to take. My son's in there and I've got to
get him out. I can't see that I have any
choice."
' 'You won't be much good to your son if you're dead,''
said Olive.
"No, I won't," Jerry agreed. "But the way Crowley sees it, they're intending
to kill me anyway, and David, too, no matter what I do."
"You trust Crowley? The same guy that actually kidnapped your son?"
Jerry raised both hands in a gesture of mute acceptance.
Mack, with his arm around Olive, shook his head in disbelief more at the fact
that he was sitting here listening to what Jerry had to say, than at the
absurdity of Japanese samurai possessed by ancient devils. "This whole thing's
insane, you know. What can you possibly do about it, as a defenseless,
untrained, private citizen? Your best choice is to call the police, and you
know it. I mean, that's my advice, and you know what / feel about the police."
"Crowley said that David wouldn't stand a chance if I called the police."
"Kidnappers always say that," said Mack dismissively.
"How many kidnappings have you been involved in?" Jerry demanded.
"Well, none."
"Let's take this particular kidnapping on its own particular merits, then,
shall we?" asked Jerry. "Crowley is my only contact; and whether he's lying to
me or not, he's the only person who's suggested a way in which I might
conceivably get David back unharmed."
Mack and Olive were silent for a while, uncertain of what to say. They saw [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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