Monster Of The Maze

Chapter 18

Richard Blade remained in the nursing home three weeks. J came every day to see him, after the first week during which he was permitted no visitors, and Lord Leighton came twice. At no time was either man permitted to talk shop-no mention was made of the computer or of Dimension X. The brain specialist in charge of Blade was England's best, and so famous that he took no guff from his Lordship.

The first week in hospital was vague to Blade. By the beginning of the second week he had recovered sufficiently for the specialist to clap him on the back and say, «We'll have you out of here soon. You're hard as carbon steel and twice as strong. I don't know what brought you here-though I do have some pretty weird things on my tapes-and I judge that I am not going to be told. So be it. But whatever it was, Mr. Blade, you would be wise to stay away from it for a time.»

When he left the nursing home J was waiting in a taxi. «How do you feel, dear boy? You look marvelous.»

It was true. Blade did look marvelous. His hair had grown out thick and healthy, he was down to his best weight, and he ignored J to a point of rudeness to watch a pretty girl wriggle past. His eyes followed the tidy little rump under the mini.

«Richard?»

«Sorry, sir.»

J laughed and sucked on his pipe. He went so far as to pat Blade's shoulder, and J was not a toucher.

«Don't be sorry. It's a good sign. I gather that Sir Rathburne was right. He tells me that you have made a complete recovery and now all that is required is rest and relaxation.»

Another pretty girl passed and smiled at Blade.

«I'll get the relaxation,» he told J. «I am not so sure about the rest.»

As they moved into traffic J said, «I told the driver to go to the Tower. That all right? Lord L would like a word with you-and I did think that you might like to see the statue. You were the one who brought it back.»

«Sure, sir. No sweat.»

J nearly dropped his pipe. Blade grinned. «Just another of my Americanisms, sir. Expressive, though. I'm in the pink and ready for-«

J said «Bear? I believe that is the expression.»

«Wrong. Girls.»

J positively beamed. «Good. Fine. I prescribe it, even though you do tend to overdo.»

They rode for a block or so in silence. J said, «Do you feel any different, Richard? Now that the crystal has been removed?»

«No, sir. I didn't even know they had taken it out until Sir Rathburne told me. I don't remember much of anything about my first week in hospital. But I feel fine now.»

«It was Lord L's idea that the crystal come out,» said J. «Mine too, of course, but he mentioned it first. He feels badly, Richard. Really shaken. He blames himself because we came so near to losing you.»

Blade nodded. «It was a pretty bad trip, sir.»

«I know. But at least the pressure is off now. For a time, at least. The statue you brought back is worth billions of pounds. And, of course, there are new problems.»

Blade listened politely and with half an ear. He did not really care about the diamond statue or DX at the moment. He had an enormous yen for food and wine and, to quote the Yanks again, dames.

He knew there would be future incursions into Dimension X. No use kidding himself. Someone would go again through the computer. Blade? He did not know at the moment. Time and fading memories changed things. If he must, if his country really needed him and no one else could do the job, he would go. Leave it at that.

They reached the Tower and went through the complex security checks. Lord L, in a soiled white smock and as fragile as ever, greeted Blade and J and bade them come with him. They followed him to his quarters.

«I cleared out a closet and put her in it,» he explained. «As good as the Bank of England. Better. We can't let them see her yet. There are problems, my boy, problems.»

Blade said that J had so informed him.

Lord J grunted. «Yes. Many problems. But they will be solved in time. She will be broken up and sold off in a way that will not ruin the market. Billions, Richard. Billions! She is going to pay for all our experiments. All of them. As of this moment Project DX is in the black. The Prime Minister is very happy with us.»

They entered His Lordship's suite and went straight to his bedroom. He pointed to a large closet. «I keep her in there. Sometimes at night when I can't sleep I open the door and put a light on her and just look. I have a very odd sensation at times-as though she were real, flesh and blood, and I in love with her. Did you experience any of those sensations, Richard?»

«I don't remember, sir.»

It might return in time, as his memories of other ventures into Dimension X did, but at the moment she was just a life-size statue of diamond. She glittered and threw back the light and extended her arms. Her naked body was without flaw or blemish.

«She is absolutely lovely,» said J. «It is a pity we must break her up.»

Lord L rubbed his hump and scowled. «Don't be a fool, J. England needs the money. We need the money. In a few days I would like to get together and have a talk. I have some ideas that will astound you.»

«I would rather not hear them at the moment,» J said tartly.

Blade left them mildly squabbling and approached the diamond statue. Regal and incredibly beautiful, she transformed the closet into a palace.

Palace?

Something stirred in his brain, moved and stirred and slithered to the threshold of consciousness and stopped dead. Blade took a last look at her and turned away. There for a moment he had known her name, for she had had a name and he had known it. He had known her and she had not been a statue. Or had she?

Her name? His lips moved and nearly formed a word. It would not come.

Perhaps later, when his brain had rested and some of the stress had gone, when the subconscious could do its work. This time out in Dimension X he had been insane, and now he was sane again in Home Dimension. He did not know just how that would work out, how it would affect his eventual memory.

Someday he might remember. Or never.