[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

some ways, you could almost describe the tumor as being like a fetus."
"You mean -- a baby? You mean she's having a baby -- in her neck? I don't
understand you."
Dr. Hughes shrugged. "Neither do I, Mr. Erskine. There are thousands of
recorded cases of fetuses growing in the wrong place. In the fallopian tube
for example, or in various kinds of annexations of the womb. But there is no
precedent for any sort of fetus growing in the neck area, and there is
certainly no precedent for any sort of fetus growing as fast as this one."
"Didn't you operate on her this morning? I thought you were going to remove
it."
Dr. Hughes shook his head. "That was the intention. We had her on the
operating table, and everything was lined up for its removal. But as soon as
the surgeon, Dr. Snaith, started making an incision, her pulse-rate and
respiration weakened so drastically that we had to stop. Another two or three
minutes and she would have died. We had to satisfy ourselves with more
X-rays."
"Was there any reason for this?" I asked him. "I mean, why did she get so
sick?"
"I don't know," said Dr. Hughes. "I'm having a series of tests run on her
right now, which will maybe give us the answer. But I've never come across
anything like it before, and I'm as mystified as anyone else."
Dr. Hughes' secretary brought us in a couple of cups of coffee and some
biscuits. We sipped in silence for a while, and then I asked Dr. Hughes the
Page 29
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
64,000 dollar question.
"Dr. Hughes," I said. "Do you believe in black magic?"
He stared at me thoughtfully.
"No," he said. "I don't."
"I don't either," I replied. "But there's something about this whole business
that strikes me as completely weird. You see, Karen Tandy's aunt is also a
client of mine, and she has had the same kind of dream as Karen. Not so
detailed, not so frightening -- but definitely the same kind of dream."
"Well?" asked Dr. Hughes. "What does that suggest to you -- as a clairvoyant?"
I looked at the floor. "I'll confess to you here and now, Dr. Hughes, that I'm
not a serious clairvoyant. It's my living, if you know what I mean. Usually
I'm pretty skeptical about spirits and the occult. But it does seem to me that
there's some kind of outside influence causing Karen Tandy's condition. In
other words, something is making her dream these dreams, and maybe it's the
same thing that's affecting her tumor and her health."
Dr. Hughes was suspicious. "Are you trying to tell me she's possessed? Like
The Exorcist or something?"
"No, I don't think so. I don't believe in that kind of demon. But I do believe
that one person can dominate another, through their mind. And I think that
somebody or someone is dominating Karen Tandy. Somebody is transmitting a
mental signal to her, a signal that's powerful enough to make her ill."
"But what about her aunt? And this old lady client of yours -- the one who
fell down the stairs this morning?"
I shook my head. "I don't think that this somebody really meant to harm them.
But it's just like any powerful signal that's sent over a considerable
distance -- any receiver that happens to be in the area it's being sent to
tends to pick it up, too. Mrs. Karmann and Mrs. Herz were close to Karen
Tandy, or to places where she'd been, and they picked up the backwash from the
main transmission."
Dr. Hughes rubbed his eyes, and then looked at me narrowly. "All right --
supposing someone is sending a signal to Karen Tandy, with the intention of
making her ill. Who is it, and why are they doing it?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. But don't you think it might do some good if
we talk to Karen herself?"
Dr. Hughes spread his hands. "She's in pretty bad shape. Her parents are
flying in this evening, in case we can't pull her around. But I guess it
wouldn't affect her chances if we tried."
He lifted the phone and spoke to his secretary. In a few minutes, she bleeped
back and said she'd made arrangements for us to visit Karen.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wear a surgical mask, Mr. Erskine," said Dr.
Hughes. "She's quite weak, and we don't want any more infections getting into
her system."
"That's okay by me."
Page 30
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
We went down to the tenth floor, and Dr. Hughes showed me into a dressing
room. As we tied on green surgical robes and masks, he explained that he would
have to ask me to leave if her condition worsened even slightly.
"I'm only letting you see her because you have a theory, Mr. Erskine, and
anybody with a theory could help us. But I warn you that this is all very
unofficial, and I don't want to have to explain to anyone why you're here."
"I get you," I said, and followed him down the corridor to Karen Tandy's room.
It was a big corner room, with a view of the snowy night on two sides. The
walls were pale hospital green, and there were no flowers or decorations,
except for a small picture of a fall day in New Hampshire. Karen Tandy's bed
was surrounded with surgical equipment, and there was a clear drip feed going
into her right arm. She had her eyes closed, and she looked as white and wan
as the pillow she was lying on. There were dark umber circles around her eyes,
and I could hardly recognize her as the girl who had come into my apartment
the previous night.
But it was the tumor that was the most startling. It had swollen and grown
around her neck, pale and fat and threaded with veins. It must have been twice
the size it was the night before, and it was almost touching her shoulders at
the back. I looked across at Dr. Hughes and he simply shook his head.
I pulled up a chair to her bedside and laid my hand on her arm. She felt very
cold. She stirred a little, and her eyes opened slightly.
"Karen?" I said softly. "It's me -- Harry Erskine."
"Hello," she whispered. "Hello, Harry Erskine."
I leaned closer. "Karen," I said. "I've found the ship. I went to the library
and looked it up and it was there."
Her eyes flickered toward me.
"You've -- found it?"
"It's a Dutch ship, Karen. It was built around 1650."
"Dutch?" she said weakly. "I don't know what it could be."
"Are you sure, Karen? Are you sure you haven't ever come across it before?"
She tried to shake her head, but the distended tumor prevented her. It bulged
from the back of her neck like an awful pallid fruit.
Dr. Hughes laid his hand on my shoulder. "I don't think we're getting very
far, Mr. Erskine. Maybe we just ought to leave it."
I grasped Karen's wrist more firmly.
"Karen," I said. "What about de boot? What about de boot, mijnheer?"
"The -- what?" she whispered.
"De boot, Karen, de boot."
She closed her eyes, and I thought she'd gone back to sleep again, but then
something seemed to shift and stir on the bed. The bulging white tumor sudden
Page 31
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
wriggled, as though there was something alive inside it.
"Oh, Christ," said Dr. Hughes. "Mr. Erskine, you'd better -- "
"Aaaahhh," groaned Karen. "Aaaahhhhh."
Her fingers clutched the sheets, and she tried to toss her head. The tumor
squirmed and wriggled some more, as if it was clutching the back of her head,
and squeezing it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" she screamed. "DE BOOOTTTTTT!!"
Her eyes rolled toward me, and for one strange moment they looked like the
eyes of someone else altogether -- bloodshot and fierce and remote. But then
Dr. Hughes was ringing the bell for the nurses, and fixing a syringe of
sedative, and I was ushered away from the bedside and into the corridor. I
stood there, hearing her scream and fight inside, and I felt as helpless and
isolated as I'd ever been in my whole life.
Chapter Three - Through the Shadows
A few minutes later, Dr. Hughes came out of Karen Tandy's room, stripping off
his gloves and his mask with weary resignation. I went up to him immediately.
"I'm sorry," I told him. "I just didn't realize it would have that effect." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]