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.”“Will do.”I felt Jerry give my foot a friendly squeeze on his way out.I still couldn’t move.My tongue felt thick and stupid in my mouth.Are you here with me? I asked, and listened for a reply from my inner voice.Instead of words, she sent a current of fear, followed by an image of wild animal eyes hiding deep in the dark of an earthen hole.A moment later, the dean spoke again.“You see this? Her serotonin levels? What’s going on?”“This isn’t a good idea,” Dr.Ash said.“Would you just look? I’m not going to mine her unless it’s perfectly safe.”“You said you were only going to read her,” Dr.Ash said.“Yes, but look at this,” Dean Berg said.At the edge of my vision, I saw him skim the surface of his touch screen.Dr.Ash leaned into my field of view again.Her smooth dark hair was back in a neat black headband.I blinked up at her.Despite what she said to caution him, her wide eyes were oddly bright, and color tinged her cheeks.As she saw me watching her, she smiled.“You’re all right,” Dr.Ash said to me and patted my hand.“I’m going to ask her a couple questions,” Dean Berg said.“Don’t hurt her.”“I’m not going to hurt her if she answers,” he said.His voice came nearer.“Rosie, I need you to answer a few simple questions.You can talk if you try.What’s your name?”I looked fearfully from him to Dr.Ash.The dean touched his finger to my lips, and at the same time, a jolt of electricity exploded in the depths of my brain.“Your name?” he asked again.I was tense with pain, sweating with fear that he would blast me again.I swallowed thickly.“Rosie Sinclair,” I whispered.“That’s right.Good.See, Glyde? She’s cooperating.” The dean leaned close and peered into my eyes with a penlight.“And who’s your sister, Rosie? What’s her name?”“Dubbs,” I said.I had to answer him.It frightened me how much I had to answer him, like the words were being siphoned directly out of my core.“That’s rather an unusual name,” Dean Berg said.“Is it a nickname?”“Yes.”He returned to his touch screen again, at the edge of my vision.“For what?” he asked.“For ‘W.’”Dean Berg laughed.“Of course.And what does the W stand for?”“Wanda,” I said.“A lovely name,” he said.“Do the bracket for me, Glyde.”“You know I wouldn’t object if I didn’t have serious reservations about this,” Dr.Ash said.“At least wait until she’s fully out.Whatever she’s on has to wear off eventually.Have some patience.”“You’re such a coward.We may never get another opportunity like this.The bracket, please,” Dean Berg said.He shifted nearer to me again, so I could see his pale eyebrows and bright expression.“What did you take to stay awake tonight?” he asked.“You must have taken something.I can tell if you lie, so don’t do that.”“Burnham gave me some pills,” I said softly.“Burnham?” Dean Berg said, clearly surprised.He and Dr.Ash exchanged a glance.“Have the Fisters said anything to you?”“No,” Dr.Ash said.“I would have told you immediately.”He turned to me again.“Do you know what the pills were that Burnham gave you? What drug?”“No,” I said.“You sure?”“I don’t,” I said.“Did you tell Burnham what you suspected about the dream mining? This is serious, now,” Dean Berg said.“No.”“Are you certain?”Another exploding burst of pain lit up the pit of my mind again, and I squeezed my eyes shut against the hurt.“She’s not lying, Sandy,” said Dr.Ash.“See for yourself.You’re tapped so deep, I doubt she’ll even remember this conversation when she comes around.”“She’ll remember it,” he said.“She’s conscious.She’s just sleeping, too.”“That isn’t possible,” Dr.Ash said.“Just look.”I’m like a dolphin with a double-duty brain, I thought, blinking my eyes open again.I wanted to laugh in despair and pain.Where are you? I asked.But she wouldn’t answer.I could feel her burrowed deep, trying to hide.The head of my examining table angled up slightly, and Dr.Ash passed a cagelike helmet above me.Then she fit it carefully around my skull, and I heard the sound of a clamp being screwed.“You’re going to feel something in your ears, to set an axis, and then a prick behind your ear,” the dean said.He lowered another light directly over my head.I had to close my eyes against the bright dazzle, and I could feel the texture of the illumination on my eyelids, as if microscopic tentacles were stroking my skin.Two cool probes poked into my ears, but instead of muffling the sound, they seemed to amplify it.A sharp sting shot under my left ear, just above the hinge of my jaw.“Felt that? Sorry.It should be okay again now,” Dean Berg said.“Are you dizzy at all, Rosie?”“No,” I whispered.Fear was making me cold.I was shivering through the limpness of my muscles.Dr.Ash dabbed at my eyes again.I tried to swallow, but my tongue felt thick.“She’s going,” Dr.Ash said.“See?”“I know,” Dean Berg said.“It’s a natural defense.I thought this might happen.I need one more thing, though.If we can tap fear, we can go directly in.Rosie, are you listening?”“Yes,” I said.“This is very important.Look at me,” he said.I opened my eyes to find his face filling my line of vision.Fine, blond eyelashes rimmed his eyes, and I could see the individual pores of his nose.“You’ve been perfect,” he said, smiling.“I want you to know that.Now tell me about something you’re afraid of.Something small.”“I’m afraid you’re killing me.”“We’re not.We’re absolutely not,” he said.“I’d never do that to you.Think of something else instead.Some small, everyday thing that shouldn’t scare you but does, like maybe dogs.Do dogs scare you?”“No.”“Then what else does? Be truthful now.”“My stepfather’s belt.”Dean Berg glanced toward Dr.Ash, then back to me.“Still too big,” he said.“Big spiders scare me,” I said.“Little ones are okay, but not the big black ones.”“Spiders,” he said softly.“Spiders will do very well.”He nodded to Dr.Ash again, and she aimed a screen in front of me, close up.In growing panic, I tried to look past the screen’s rim to Dean Berg, but it was too late.Together, they drew the screen so near it cut off any view of the rest of the room.“You’ll be all right, Rosie.I promise,” the dean said reassuringly.Then a moment later, “All set, Glyde? On go, give me a big, black spider, up close and hungry.Ready? Set? Go.”The spider appeared inches from my face, as big as a dog, snapping and biting.Pure horror shot into me.It ravaged through me, igniting and escalating my other fears.Burnham was bleeding to death under my mouth as I tried to breathe into him.My stepfather raised his belt to lash it down on me.Linus’s perfect head was crushed by a bludgeoning ax.My sister Dubbs came next, bicycling heedlessly into a rushing train.Wordless terror took over, nothing but teeth and fury, deep in my darkest core.36THE LEAPI WAKE IN my coffin.Why call it anything else? My eyelids are covered with gel.I’m too weak to do more than twitch my thumb, but even sightless and immobile, I can hear and think [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]