“Impossible? Note I did not say ‘human.’ I said ‘person.’ There’s a difference. The Lady has existed for so long that she’s no longer a mere projection, she’s developed a self—one with a real attachment to this world and the people who inhabit it. That self refused to leave us.”
The Lady looked confused. “But if the noosphere isn’t feeding me, how do I exist?”
Weezy’s eyes lit. “Through us! You’re being fed by humanity itself—directly.”
Jack had an awful thought.
“Wait. Does this mean that Rasalom can hurt her now?”
Silence around the table until . . .
The Lady held out her hand to Jack. “Your knife, please?”
Jack pulled out his Endura, opened it, and gently pushed it across the table. The Lady took it, stared at the blade a moment, then stabbed it through the back of her other hand. Jack had known this was coming, but it still made him wince. Weezy had seen this demonstration before too, but she still let out a yelp.
They all watched as the Lady pulled the blade free. No blood on the steel, and as before, the wound sealed itself in an instant.
Jack released a breath he’d been holding. “Okay. At least we know that Rasalom can’t hurt her.”
Glaeken raised a finger. “Not by any means we know, but he’s resourceful. He may find one. He will be relentless in seeking her third death. So our first priority must be to protect the Lady.”
Jack balled his fists. “Defense again. Always defense.”
Glaeken nodded. “Yes. Defend the Lady at all costs. But this latest development allows us a change in tactics.”
Something in his voice . . . Jack leaned forward.
“What have you got in mind?”
Glaeken fixed him with his blue stare. “I’m releasing you from your promise, Jack. As you know, the only reason I’ve been holding you back was the fear that Rasalom would learn the truth about my condition. Well, thanks to a foolish old man, he now knows. So there’s no further need for restraint. Go after him, Jack. Find him, kill him if you can.”
Jack felt as if he’d been released from a cell.
“Open season? Anything goes?”
“Anything. You may well need anything and everything. He can die, but he is something more than human now, so he will be very hard to kill. Your first strike must be decisive. You may not get a second.”
Weezy’s expression turned fearful. “Better think this over, Jack. He’s dangerous, and he’s so powerful.”
Jack knew. Did he ever. And that was why he wasn’t going to let this rush of release take over. Yes, he was finally being allowed to do something, but he had to be careful and deliberate. When he made his moves, they’d matter.
“That’s why I’ll need your help,” he told her. “Keep going through the Compendium. See if you can find a weakness, a vulnerability we can exploit.”
She looked at Glaeken. “Isn’t there anyone else?”
“You know there isn’t. Jack is uniquely suited for this. And it makes you wonder, doesn’t it, if perhaps his whole life has been steered toward this moment, this confrontation.”
She turned back to Jack. “But first you’ve got to find him. He might not be calling himself Mister Osala anymore.”
“I’d be surprised if he were.”
But Jack had a good idea of where to start looking.
The rules of engagement had just changed, and Jack was going to take the war to Rasalom.
www.repairmanjack.com
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE WORLD
The preponderance of my work deals with a history of the world that remains undiscovered, unexplored, and unknown to most of humanity. Some of this secret history has been revealed in the Adversary Cycle, some in the Repairman Jack novels, and bits and pieces in other, seemingly unconnected works. Taken together, even these millions of words barely scratch the surface of what has been going on behind the scenes, hidden from the workaday world. I’ve listed these works below in the chronological order in which the events in them occur.
Note: “Year Zero” is the end of civilization as we know it; “Year Zero Minus One” is the year preceding it, etc.
THE PAST
“Demonsong” (prehistory)
“Aryans and Absinthe” (1923–1924)**
Black Wind (1926–1945)
The Keep (1941)
Reborn (February–March 1968)
“Dat Tay Vao” (March 1968)***
Jack: Secret Histories (1983)
Jack: Secret Circles (1983)
Jack: Secret Vengeance (1983)
YEAR ZERO MINUS THREE
Sibs (February)
“Faces” (early summer)*
The Tomb (summer)
“The Barrens” (ends in September)*
“A Day in the Life” (October)*
“The Long Way Home”
Legacies (December)
YEAR ZERO MINUS TWO
“Interlude at Duane’s” (April)**
Conspiracies (April) (includes “Home Repairs”)
All the Rage (May) (includes “The Last Rakosh”)
Hosts (June)
The Haunted Air (August)
Gateways (September)
Crisscross (November)
Infernal (December)
YEAR ZERO MINUS ONE
Harbingers (January)
Bloodline (April)
By the Sword (May)
Ground Zero (July)
The Touch (ends in August)
The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus & Oddity Emporium (ends in September)
“Tenants”*
YEAR ZERO
“Pelts”*
Reprisal (ends in February)
Fatal Error (February)
The Dark at the End [working title] (March)
Nightworld (May)
*available in The Barrens and Others
**available in Aftershock & Others
***available in the 2009 reissue of The Touch
F. Paul Wilson, Fatal Error
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