Part 24 (1/2)
”No.”
He continued to look away for a moment, and then turned back to Hall. ”They all died, did they?”
”Not all. One other survived. ” He nodded to the crib next to Jackson.
Jackson peered over at the bundle of blankets. ”Who's that? ”
”A baby.”
”Baby? Must be the Ritter child. Jamie Ritter. Real young, is it?”
”About two months.”
”Yep. That's him. A real little h.e.l.ler. Just like the old man. Old Ritter likes to kick up a storm, and his kid's the same way. Squalling morning, noon, and night. Family couldn't keep the windas open, on account of the squalling.
”Is there anything else unusual about Jamie?”
”Nope. Healthy as a water buffalo, except he squalls. I remember he was squalling like the d.i.c.kens that night.
Hall said, ”What night?”
”The night Charley Thomas brought the d.a.m.ned thing in. We all seen it, of course. It came down like one of them shooting stars, all glowing, and landed just to the north. Everybody was excited, and Charley Thomas went off to get it. Came back about twenty minutes later with the thing in the back of his Ford station wagon. Brand-new wagon. He's real proud of it.”
”Then what happened?”
”Well, we all gathered around, looking at it. Reckoned it must be one of those s.p.a.ce things. Annie figured it was from Mars, but you know how Annie is. Lets her mind carry her off, at times. The rest of us, we didn't feel it was no Martian thing, we just figured it was something sent up from Cape Canaveral. You know, that place in Florida where they shoot the rockets?”
”Yes. Go on.”
”So, once we figured that out good and proper, we didn't know what to do. Nothing like that ever happened in Piedmont, you know. I mean, once we had that tourist with the gun, shot up the Comanche Chief motel, but that was back in '48 and besides, he was just a GI had a little too much to drink, and there were exterminating circ.u.mstances. His gal run out on him while he was in Germany or some d.a.m.n place. n.o.body gave him a bad time; we understood how it was. But nothing happened since, really. Quiet town. That's why we like it, I reckon.”
”What did you do with the capsule?”
”Well, we didn't know what to do with it. Al, he said open 'er up, but we didn't figure that was right, especially since it might have some scientific stuff inside, so we thought awhile. And then Charley, who got it in the first place, Charley says, let's give it to Doc. That's Doc Benedict. He's the town doctor. Actually, he takes care of everybody around, even the Indians. But he's a good fella anyhow, and he's been to lots of schools. Got these degrees on the walls? Well, we figured Doc Benedict would know what to do with the thing. So we brought it to him.
”And then?”
”Old Doc Benedict, he's not so old actually, he looks 'er over real careful, like it was his patient, and then he allows as how it might be a thing from s.p.a.ce, and it might be one of ours, or it might be one of theirs. And he says he'll take care of it, and maybe make a few phone calls, and let everybody know in a few hours. See, Doc always played poker Monday nights with Charley and Al and Herb Johnstone, over at Herb's place, and we figured that he'd spread the word around then. Besides, it was getting on suppertime and most of us were a bit hungry, so we all kind of left it with Doc.”
”When was that?”
”Bout seven-thirty or so.”
”What did Benedict do with the satellite?”
”Took it inside his house. None of us saw it again. It was about eight, eight-thirty that it all started up, you see. I was over at the gas station, having a chat with Al, who was working the pump that night. Chilly night, but I wanted a chat to take my mind off the pain. And to get some soda from the machine, to wash down the aspirin with. Also, I was thirsty, squeeze makes you right thirsty, you know.”
”You'd been drinking Sterno that day?”
”Bout six o'clock I had some, yes.”
”How did you feel?”
”Well, when I was with Al, I felt good. Little dizzy, and my stomach was paining me, but I felt good. And Al and me were sitting inside the office, you know, talking, and suddenly he shouts, 'Oh G.o.d, my head!' He ups and runs outside, and falls down. Right there in the street, not a word from him.
”Well, I didn't know what to make of it. I figured he had a heart attack or a shock, but he was pretty young for that, so I went after him. Only he was dead. Then ... they all started coming out. I believe Mrs. Langdon, the Widow Langdon, was next. After that, I don't recall, there was so many of them. Just pouring outside, it seemed like. And they just grab their chests and fall, like they slipped. Only they wouldn't get up afterward. And never a word from any of them.”
”What did you think?”
”I didn't know what to think, it was so d.a.m.ned peculiar. I was scared, I don't mind telling you, but I tried to stay calm. I couldn't, naturally. My old heart was thumping, and I was wheezin' and gaspin'. I was scared. I thought everybody was dead. Then I heard the baby crying, so I knew not everybody could be dead. And then I saw the General.”
”The General?”
”Oh, we just called him that. He wasn't no general, just been in the war, and liked to be remembered. Older'n me, he is. Nice fella, Peter Arnold. Steady as a rock all his life and he's standing by the porch, all got up in his military clothes. It's dark, but there's a moon, and he sees me in the street and he says, 'That you, Peter?' We both got the same name, see. And I says, 'Yes it is.' And he says, 'What the h.e.l.l's happening? j.a.ps coming in? And I think that's a mighty peculiar thing, for him to be saying. And he says, 'I think it must be the j.a.ps, come to kill us all.' And I say, 'Peter, you gone loco?' And he says he don't feel too good and he goes inside. Course, he must have gone loco, 'cause he shot himself. But others went loco, too. It was the disease.”
”How do you know?”
”People don't burn themselves, or drown themselves, if they got sense, do they? All them in that town were good, normal folks until that night. Then they just seemed to go crazy.”
”What did you do?”
”I thought to myself, Peter, you're dreaming. You had too much to drink. So I went home and got into bed, and figured I'd be better in the morning. Only about ten o'clock, I hear a noise, and it's a car, so I go outside to see who it is. It's some kind of car, you know, one of those vans. Two fellers inside. I go up to them, and d.a.m.n but they don't fall over dead. Scariest thing you ever saw. But it's funny.”
”What's funny?”
”That was the only other car to come through all night. Normally, there's lots of cars.”
”There was another car?”
”Yep. Willis, the highway patrol. He came through about fifteen, thirty seconds before it all started. Didn't stop, though; sometimes he doesn't. Depends if he's late on his schedule; he's got a regular patrol, you know, he has to stick to.”
Jackson sighed and let his head fall back against the pillow. ”Now,” he said, ”if you don't mind, I'm going to get me some sleep. I'm all talked out.”
He closed his eyes. Hall crawled back down the tunnel, out of the unit, and sat in the room looking through the gla.s.s at Jackson, and the baby in the crib alongside. He stayed there, just looking, for a long time.
23. Topeka
THE ROOM WAS HUGE, THE SIZE OF A FOOTBALL field. It was furnished spa.r.s.ely, just a few tables scattered about. Inside the room, voices echoed as the technicians called to each other, positioning the pieces of wreckage. The post team was reconstructing the wreck in this room, placing the clumps of twisted metal from the Phantom in the same positions as they had been found on the sand.
Only then would the intensive examination begin.
Major Manchek, tired, bleary-eyed, clutching his coffee cup, stood in a corner and watched. To him, there was something surrealistic about the scene: a dozen men in a long, white-washed room in Topeka, rebuilding a crash.
One of the biophysicists came up to him, holding a clear plastic bag. He waved the contents under Manchek's nose.
”Just got it back from the lab,” he said.