The Devil's Eye

NINE

All right. I wouldn't have you think I'm a complete coward. I went back a few minutes later, stayed in the skimmer, and looked down at the place from a safe altitude. The grave was quiet, and the block was flat on the ground again. I set back down in the parking area, opened up, and got out. I checked the time and stood where I'd stood before. And waited. Until it started again. I retreated to the lander and watched the routine play itself out. The hand, blue in the starlight, raising the slab, was as far as it went. Then it shut down. I returned again to my chosen spot. And stood there. After about two minutes, it happened a third time.

I was on my way back to the Point when Alex called. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Ummm. Yes. I'm fine."

"See any monsters?"

"Just the usual ones."

"Good. When will you be back?"

"Why?"

"So I know when to start worrying."

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay. Let me know when you get in."

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"The people in this town can't be trusted."

"I'm shocked to hear it."

In the morning, I couldn't resist going down to the city hall. Alex tried to talk me out of it, but I was annoyed that they were playing tricks on their visitors. It was a run-down building, situated next to the courthouse and across the street from the police station. They had a human receptionist who looked as if she had more important things to do than talk to strangers. "Who did you want to see, ma'am?" "The supervisor, please." "Do you have an appointment?"

"No." "I'm sorry. He's not available at the moment. How can we help you?" "You know," I said, "somebody's going to have a heart attack out there." "Out where?" It went on like that for a while, but I finally managed to get past her to a staff assistant. He was no help either, and relayed me to an overfed guy in a large office that needed sweeping and dusting. He looked as if he'd been there forever. He had a bristling white mustache and an enormous bald skull. He smiled in a grandfatherly way, told me he was glad I'd come by, and pulled over a chair for me. His nameplate identified him as a Mr. Collander. "Ms. Kolpath," he said, "I'll put your comments on the record, and we'll look into it." We sat there a moment, watching each other. He was giving me a chance to say thank you very much, shake his hand, and leave. "Mr. Collander," I said, "this doesn't bother you at all, does it?" The smile stayed in place, but it acquired a regretful aspect. "I wish I could say I'm disturbed." He pressed his fingertips against his forehead. "But I won't lie to you. No, we've known about it for a while." "In fact you put it there." I looked up at a framed picture of him, two young girls, and a puppy. He was presenting them with an award. His eyes followed mine. "It's our annual Pet Appreciation Day," he said. "Look, Ms. Kolpath-May I call you Chase ?" " Ms. Kolpath will do fine." "Ms. Kolpath, may I ask what you intend to do when you leave here?" "I haven't decided yet." "I can understand you were frightened." "I wasn't frightened." Terrified would be closer to the truth. "So what happens now? That thing turns on every time someone goes out there?" I'd gotten up, and he asked me to sit again. "I won't take much of your time," he said. "I'm sorry for your inconvenience. I truly am." He nodded toward the window. "Look around you. Boldinai Point is a small town. It has no major industry. We're isolated, and the only reason we exist at all is our tourist trade. If that were to go away, this town would dry up." The guy was good. In retrospect, thinking about it, I wonder that I could have been put off so easily. But at the time, it was hard to argue with. "There's no harm done," he said. "We have monitors. If someone in ill health were to go out there, we'd intervene. But for most people who come here, Ms. Kolpath, it's just part of the show. It's what they expect. Look, I'm sorry you took any of it seriously. But nobody really believes there's an android up there being held in its grave by a rock. We pretend it's so, for our tourists." He took a deep breath. "Let me ask you a question: What would you have thought if you'd gone up there and nothing had happened?" I was starting to feel like an idiot. He smiled and told me I should come back and see him if I had any other problems. Then he was escorting me toward the door. "I hope you'll try to see our side of things, Ms. Kolpath. And while you're here at the Point, just relax and enjoy the ride." He offered me a gift certificate for the souvenir shops. And as I was going out, he smiled. "We've been in operation for sixty years. Never lost a tourist."

When I got back to the hotel, Alex looked up from a cup of the local brew and, with one of those complacent expressions, asked where I'd been. "Just out walking." He examined his cup and studied the notebook that lay on his lap. "Did they agree to dismantle the gear at the grave site?" While I was considering my answer, he said I was just in time to go with him to meet with the organizer of a local reading club. His name was Dolf, and he was waiting for us at the Boldinai Point Library. It was next door to the city hall. We went in and found him talking with one of the librarians. We did a round of introductions, then he led us to a room that served as a small auditorium.

He was a former police officer, and he admitted to having served during Bandahriate days. "But we weren't doing any of the stuff here that was going on in other places," he said. "We wouldn't have allowed it." He was one of the tallest people I've ever seen, his height accentuated by a pronounced lankiness. He'd been blond at one time, but his hair was going gray. He wore a thick, unkempt mustache, and his eyes possessed the shrewdness of a professional cardplayer. He was well along in years and told us that horror fiction was one of those forbidden delights that made his life a pure pleasure. "Did you know in advance Vicki Greene was coming?" Alex asked. He was obviously not sure why we were asking the questions. I thought he'd mistaken us for a couple of fans. "No. Not really. We only found out a couple of days before she got here. We were notified, I think, by one of the book dealers in Korimba. He called the Graveyard-" "The graveyard?" I asked. "Graveyard Books. Our own shop." "Oh." "My understanding," he continued, "is that Korimba heard it from somebody at Spirit." "The distributor," said Alex. "Yes." "How did you actually connect with her? With Ms. Greene?" "We had no code and couldn't find a listing for her. But we knew when she was coming so we staked out the hotels. And Amelia, Louie Black's wife, spotted her walking into the lobby of the Hamel." He sat back and looked immensely pleased with himself. "She let us take her to lunch. Right over there." He pointed across the street to a modest caf . The Tomb. "They put a couple of tables together." He corrected himself. "I don't mean she let us buy." "Of course." "We wanted to. But she insisted on paying her own." "How'd she seem?" "She's a funny lady. Doesn't take herself seriously. And, man, she sure likes her dessert." He apparently hadn't heard the news yet. "Dolf, do you know how long she stayed at the Point?" "Three or four days. Why do you ask?" Alex hesitated, then told him what had happened. He listened, shook his head, seemed genuinely saddened. "Did she tell you where she intended to go when she left here?" He shook his head. "No. I can check with the others. See if she might have mentioned it to any of them." "Okay. Yes, I'd appreciate it if you did that. Did you see her at all after the lunch?" "No." He didn't need to think about it. "No. Next we heard, she was gone." "Did she tell you why she'd come here?" "Sure." The smile came back. "She said she wanted to meet Barryman."

Dolf called back that night. He'd talked with the others. "When she left here," he said, "she told a couple of our people she was going to Bessarlik." "Bessarlik? What's that?" He laughed. We didn't know? "It's the Haunted Forest."