Penult (Book Four of The Liminality)

  I should have made Billy back off, but it was just a sword. A full magazine from a semi-automatic pistol hadn’t fazed Billy. What could a mere blade do?

  Both men saw Belinda and they maneuvered Billy around to her, jabbing and feinting at him until his back was to Belinda. She held onto the hilt with two hands and swept it back like a cricket bat, ready to swing with all her might.

  “Billy! Watch out!”

  Belinda swung. Billy dodged aside like a boxer, and I swear she just barely nicked him. The tip of her sword bit through one slender link of knotted cord in a single square of mesh behind Billy’s ankle. But once the cut was made, Billy began to unravel. He stumbled back, losing all shape, turning into nothing but a heap of nets animated only by gravity and the usual laws of physics.

  The heap that had been Billy fell on top of me and dragged me down. The men rushed over, peeling off nets until there was but one layer between us. The man in the grey suit reached into his coat pocket and removed a transparent plastic cylinder that looked something like an Epi-pen. He jabbed the thing against my arm. Something popped. I felt a mild sting, the quick and shallow jab of a needle.

  “Ow! What the fuck was that?”

  “Your penalty,” said Belinda. “The pellet that Frederick injected into you will eventually stop your breathing. No doctor can diagnose it in time to make a difference. There is no antidote. So do not bother seeking help. Your death will be relatively painless, though, I’m sorry to say, not necessarily pleasant. You have some hours before the symptoms start. You are free to go now. Maybe you will want to say goodbye to the girl in the house. No worries. We did not harm her. We did suggest it might be in her best interests to stay inside. I am so sorry that we had to eliminate you, Mr. Moody, but I tried to warn you.”

  “It was never my idea to go back. I wanted nothing to do with them.”

  “And yet you did return and you did participate in the fighting. I warned you—explicitly—what would happen.” She shrugged and sighed. “What’s done is done. But such a waste. You might have been a good candidate for Penult someday.”

  “How much time do I have left?”

  “I can’t say. It varies from person to person,” she said. “More than twelve hours. But less than two days, most likely. Do not bother involving the authorities. Those who matter know of us. We have … immunity … so to speak.”

  She turned abruptly and strode off towards the door, the men close behind. She lingered by the door and took one last glance before continuing on her way. The men exited and pulled the door closed behind them.

  I got up and brushed myself off. Other than a mild burning where they had injected the pellet, I felt fine.

  I stepped out of the shed and into the bright sunlight. Everything felt so surreal. Ordinary things—sea gulls, fence posts—looked alien to me, as if I were seeing them for the first time. Was this the last morning I would witness on this planet?

  I didn’t know what to do first. Even though I knew firsthand that this whole finality of death thing was over-rated, it did not lessen my panic one iota. I was not ready to die.

  ***

  I wandered the streets of Stromness, searching for an NHS clinic. I wanted to make absolutely sure that what Belinda said was true, that there was no antidote for whatever ricin, and that the stuff they had injected into my arm really could not be identified. I had no reason to disbelieve her, but who knows? Maybe they were shitting me.

  I had the hardest time concentrating, but I’m pretty sure it was anxiety clouding my mind, not yet the poison. When I finally spotted a red cross on a building and made my way towards it, a fancy car pulled up behind me. The driver charged out and slammed into me. He grabbed me and dragged me over to the passenger side and stuffed me into the front seat.

  He got in and peeled out, heading for the meadowlands beyond the town center.

  “Jeez kid! What the heck are you thinking walking around out here in the open?”

  “Wendell?”

  ”They’re onto you. The Pennies. They’re here … right now … on the island.”

  “I know. They already found me.”

  “They did?”

  “Yeah. They cornered me in this warehouse and injected me with this stuff they said is gonna kill me in two days or less.”

  “Oh shit!”

  “I was … I was just heading for that clinic back there. To get checked out.”

  Wendell glanced over, his eyes lingering a little too long.

  “Kid. If they gave you what I think they gave you, no doc is gonna be able to help you.”

  “That’s what they said. But … what is it you think they gave me?”

  “Nothing fancy. That’s not their style. They’re old school. They keep away from magic thought I’m sure they’d be damned good. If I had to guess, it’s most likely ricin. They don’t like to be around when their victims die. They call that mercy. They’re cowards that way.”

  “So what do I do?”

  Wendell pulled the car over beside a hayfield on the outskirts of the village. He looked at me with a softness in his gaze, a level of kindliness that I had never thought him capable.

  “It’s a damned waste. I know you didn’t like working with us, kid. But … I think you might have come around once you realized what we were dealing with.” His eyes wandered. “What you do next is up to you. I’ll take wherever you want to go. You’ve got one day, basically, that you’re still gonna be able to do anything. Whatever that is, is up to you.”

  The way he is talking to me had a way of making the truth sink in. This was it for me. This was really the end. The bottom fell out of my stomach.

  “No. This can’t be real.”

  The world turned wavy through a sudden gush of tears.

  “There’s not even time to go home. Wherever that is these days. Fort Pierce, I guess. America. But … there’s no time.”

  “Kid. If you cross back with the roots, you need to get yourself up into the highlands. Away from that core. You near any mountains over there?”

  “No. I’m on a boat.”

  “Sea level? Dang. That’s the worst place you can be.”

  “Wasn’t my idea. We’re heading for Penult. For a raid.”

  “Really? By boat? What the fuck?”

  “One of the beetles was having trouble … so … we stole a boat.”

  “You have bugs! Good. First thing you do is get your ass someplace high. Two miles up, at least, where the core can’t reach you.”

  I just looked at him. “No. I think I’d rather go back to the Deeps.”

  “What the fuck kid? Are you crazy? Why don’t you want to be a Freesoul?”

  “Nah. I really don’t give a crap anymore. The Horus can take me for all I care.”

  Wendell grinned.

  “I see what you’re doing. Talking nonsense to psych yourself out. Get the roots to come and take you. Smart thinking.”

  But I was being serious. Tears were just rolling out of me now. I never felt so weak.

  Wendell’s grin eroded. “Listen, by tonight you’re not gonna be in any condition to do anything useful. If you have anything you need done, you’d better do it now. Make some calls. Eat a last meal. Whatever.”

  “Okay.”

  “So what do you want to do?”

  “I want to live.”

  “Yeah, well. That’s not gonna happen. You’re alive right now that’s the best I can do for you.”

  “Then … why should I bother? There’s no time.”

  “No time? You’ve hours. Maybe even days. Every minute you can look around and appreciate this world is … precious. I know my time will come, sooner than most, my profession being risky as it is. I take advantage of every moment I can. I hardly ever cross over anymore. Not the way I used to. But today’s all about you, kid. What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not ready for this.”

  “Come on. Let’s get you something to eat while you can still enjoy it.
Then we’ll get you situated someplace quiet and cozy.”

  “Can … can we bring Jess?”

  “Of course!” said Wendell. He put the car in gear and turned the car around, heading back into Stromness. At least my eyes had begun to dry and Jess wouldn’t have to see me like this.

  ***

  We pulled up to the stone wall outside the cottage and I got out. Jess came rushing out the front door all excited when she saw me coming up the walk. She stopped short when she saw Wendell behind me.

  “It’s alright Jess. He’s a … a friend.” It felt weird saying that about Wendell.

  “Thank goodness you’re alright. Those people, did they—?”

  “No Jess. I’m not okay. They got me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They poisoned me. With something bad.”

  Her eyes flitted about.

  “We need a purgative. To make you vomit. We need to get you to the clinic ASAP.”

  “It’s no use Jess. Wendell thinks they got me with ricin.”

  “Pretty sure,” said Wendell.

  “Surely, the clinic can do something?”

  “No. Not if it’s ricin.”

  “What if it’s not? How did they—?”

  “Listen, Jess. I only have one day left. Let’s gonna waste it. I feel pretty good right now, but I don’t know how long that will last.”

  “Oh, but James! I had such good news to share. The ladies … they found her.”

  “Found … Isobel?”

  “Yes! They even have an address. In Scotland!”

  “Is she alright?”

  “We don’t know. The place she’s staying is kind of off the grid. Fiona and Britt are hoping to rent a car, but without you and those bottomless cards of yours, they’re getting a little short of funds.”

  “Who’s this you’re talking about?” said Wendell. “That young girl? Your girlfriend’s sister?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I could have told you where to find her. You wanna go see her? Come on. I’ll take you.”

  “Really?”

  “Hop in. If we hurry we can catch the eleven o’clock ferry to Scrabster.”

  ***

  We reached the ferry landing a few minutes late but Wendell had powers of persuasion that bordered on magical. Whether it was mere charm or some subtle form of hypnosis or the possibly the mesmerizing qualities of an immaculate, vintage Bentley, the ferry men kept the gate open until we had driven on board without any ticket or reservation.

  He and Jess went up on the deck and left me alone in the back seat of the Bentley. I needed some time by myself to process what was happening.

  My heart was going a hundred miles an hour but I was no longer gushing like a crybaby. Where had that come from? With all the bad shit I had been through I had never cried like that, not even when I lost my dad or my mom, or when the Fellstraw took down Karla.

  What did that mean? Did I care more about me than anyone else? It didn’t used to be that way. For years, I couldn’t care less what happened to me. I would have been glad to leave this existence. But I was in a different place now, but dying just the same.

  I was used to my feelings being jumbled but this was insane. First, hanging over everything was the panic over my imminent death, tinged by several measures of denial. Karla would be thrilled to hear that her sister had been found. I was thrilled, too. I had feared the worst for her, and the worst was life with that bastard of a father.

  I wondered how Karla would react to the news of me getting dragged back to the Deeps, this time through the front door like everybody else. Did I even care? I kind of did, and even garnished a bit of self-pitiful glee over the prospect of seeing her reaction. Freesoul, my ass, I was going back to the realm of the Horus this time without Olivier and his will bomb to help bust me out.

  Amidst this jumble, I hung onto a tiny kernel of hope that I could will myself a way to keep from dying, that the ricin wasn’t really ricin, or that my special constitution could hold the effects of the poison at bay. That little bit of hope was enough to keep me in this realm.

  But that little smidgeon of optimism didn’t last very long. The first wave of nausea clamped down on my innards and went rippling all through me. Now there was no denying that the threat was real. Utter fear smacked down all other thoughts and feelings, permeating me with despair. And with despair, as always, came the roots.

  Chapter 61: Flotsam

  My body jerked the way it does when you’re half-asleep and get that falling sensation. The only thing was, I really was falling. I dropped like a load of bricks and slammed belly-first into the sea.

  This water was so salty. It burned my eyes and lips. A million screaming neurons instantly revealed every minor cut and abrasion I never knew I had.

  And I barely sank. The buoyancy out here was incredible. I bobbed right up to the surface where I gasped and gulped for air, and struggled to gain my bearings.

  The ocean was mirror calm in the dim twilight of a dying afternoon. A quick spin about helped me located the long boat which remained inert and at anchor. It must have drifted slightly since I had faded, explaining why I had missed the deck.

  Someone clambered atop the oarsman’s cage and peered out in my direction. I kicked to raise myself out of the water and waved both arms.

  “Yo!”

  “He’s over here,” said Ubaldo, and my fellow raiders came swarming to the rail. There was a loud pop and an object came flying out at me. Out of the corner of my eye it looked like a giant tethered cannonball. I flinched and ducked beneath the surface, bobbing back up to find myself within arm’s reach of a glassy green globe encased in a mesh of heavy twine in a hexagonal weave.

  “Grab on! We will pull you.”

  So I latched onto the glass float and found myself yanked vigorously back to the boat, like a limp swordfish that had given up the fight. As they reeled me in, I bumped up against some big. I was shocked to see a Cherub floating face down. Not only that, there was a whole train of them strung out behind the boat, carried adrift by the feeble current. Someone had been busy clearing the holds and tossing them overboard.

  When I reached the hull, a jungle of hands reached down to grab me.

  “We were worried this would happen,” said Olivier. “We kept a watch. Didn’t want you to drown.”

  “I don’t think that’s possible,” I said. “A brick would probably float in this stuff.”

  I caught Karla smirking at me. She tossed me a bundle that I barely reached out in time to catch and keep it from flying overboard. They were my clothes, somehow quite a bit cleaner and fresher than I remembered.

  “I told you he would come back soon,” she said. “His life is miserable without me.”

  “Um. No. That’s not why—”

  “Oh? You are too happy to have me out of your life?”

  “Karla. I’m … I’m dying. I’ve been poisoned.”

  All of the mischief went out of her face.

  “What? How?”

  “That’s bullshit,” Olivier.

  “The Friends of Penult. They caught me. Injected me. With something. Wendell thinks it’s ricin. No antidote.”

  Karla’s eyes widened. “We need to get him to the glaciers. To the mountains”

  “Hang on,” said Olivier. “Nobody can poison him. He’s a Weaver. And not just any Weaver. A master. He has power over matter even in the living world.”

  “So how does that help me against ricin?”

  “Easy. Just turn the poison into something harmless. Say … cotton candy.”

  “But how?”

  “Same way you turn basketball courts and bleachers into angry monsters.”

  “But … I can’t see the poison. I need to visualize stuff to change it. Otherwise, there’s no traction. Nothing for my will to work on. I have no idea what it looks like or where it is in my body. It’s probably all dissolved.”

  “Visualize yourself. Just focus your will on yourself. Anything n
ot you, you turn into cotton candy. Easy.”

  “O-kay.”

  “Next time you fade. That’s what you do. I don’t want to hear any of this, ‘Oh woe is me, I’m dying,’ bullshit. Okay? We’ve got a job to do. Georg, how’s that column doing?”

  “Pretty much dry,” said Georg. “As far as I can tell.”

  “Let us finish with the Cherubim,” said Ubaldo. “And then feed the bugs. We fly tonight.”

  “What’s the deal with the Cherubs?” I said to Olivier. “Why are you guys chucking them overboard?”

  “Why shouldn’t we?” said Olivier, smirking. “You’d rather we face them fully incubated and weaponized?”

  “It’s just … they’re people. Maybe there’s some way we can turn them back?”

  “Nah. Their souls are long gone. They’re nothing but puppets now. Killer puppets.”

  I peeked down into a hold through an opening in the decking panels. The interior looked like those old shipping diagrams I’d seen of 18th century slave ships, with cherubs packed in alternating rows to pack in as many as possible. Each of their bodies were wrapped in sheets of gelatinous membrane.

  “See that white stuff? It’s like a cocoon. Their bodies are being transformed into weapons. We un-wrapped a couple. It’s … disgusting, actually. Their human arms are dissolving and reconfiguring. All these cisterns of goop we are their food. The bugs seem to like it, but the shit tastes like puke.”

  I looked up and caught Urszula staring right at me. Our eyes caught and held. She was looking worried.

  “You need to fade again and soon,” she said. She spun on her heels and strode off down the deck.

  “Yeah, well that’s cute. How about we get the raid done first?” said Olivier.

  ***

  I wanted no part of the Cherub disposal detail, so I made myself scarce, wandering the decks in a daze. Karla took a break and came looking for me. She found me on the bow sprit, watching the line of Cherubim drifting off as far as the eye could see.

  “It’s gonna be okay, you know,” she said, patting my arm. “You can just do what Mr. Olivier said … and even if not … even if you can’t … it’s still okay. Just … when the time comes … you need to get up to a high place.”

  “So … finally looks you’re gonna get your wish.”