The Devil's Eye

EPILOGUE

The skimmer began its descent through the late-autumn sky. Below, the town was indistinguishable from a thousand others on the vast prairie that separates the western mountain chains from the eastern forests. It was located on a river, a tributary of the Myakonda, in an area of moderate temperatures. The climate was pleasant. Snowstorms were rare, tornadoes nonexistent. Cory Greene looked down from the skimmer. He saw the school, two churches, and several hundred houses set along quiet streets, surrounding parks, and ball fields. Several ball games were in progress. "Nice area," he said. Obermaier was still sitting with his eyes closed. He wasn't happy. "You understand, Mr. Greene, I do not approve of this." "I understand, Doctor." "Ordinarily, I would not even have considered your request. To my knowledge, this has never been done before." "I understand." "It's a clear ethical violation." "I know." "I'd much prefer we simply leave things as they are." "That would be unfair to her." "So is disrupting her life." Greene was weary of the conversation. How many times were they going to go over it? "Doctor, I've signed the protocol. I won't identify myself to her. After today, I will never return to this town. I will tell no one about what we are doing here. And I will, under the most severe torture, not reveal the location." Children were jumping rope in the streets. Kids were playing on swings and chasing one another through backyards. Several people glanced up from a bench as they passed overhead. They started down. Greene's heartbeat picked up. "We've informed her we're coming," said Obermaier. "She knows we have news, but she has no idea what that might be." "Okay." "She'll recognize me. She thinks I'm an uncle. So please let me do the talking. If questioned, you should inform her you're here strictly as an observer. They were descending toward a modest single-story home at the end of a tree-lined drive. It had a lawn, a picket fence, and a large flowering bush in front. "Is that where she lives?" he asked. "Yes. She's a music teacher now." "That's hard to believe." "I suppose so."

They drifted down and landed on a pad shared with the house next door. Cory opened the hatch just as church bells began to ring. Obermaier looked at him. "You're sure now you want to do this? There'll be no going back." "I'm sure."

"She's quite happy with her present existence. She has a family, which we've gone to quite a lot of trouble and expense to put together. You're going to disrupt all that." "I know." "Okay." Obermaier took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The church bells stopped and the town seemed very quiet. "You understand this won't restore her mind. It won't set everything back as it was." "I understand." He opened the door and admitted a cool breeze. There was a light on in the living room. He gripped the rim of the hatchway, slipped out of his seat, and stood on the pad. "Even if she can't remember, she deserves to know who she was. Who she is ." He led Obermaier across the front of the house. A lamp came on in the entrance, and an AI asked who was there.