F Wilson - The Dark at the End

Jack held up a finger. “Ah, but what if I don’t know the Other Name I’m given?”

“How can you not?” Weezy said. “You’ll have to go through the ceremony.”

He looked at the Lady. “Does the ceremony require me to say the name?”

She shook her head. “It does not.”

“Well, then,” he said, “what if I’m unconscious during the ceremony? Then I won’t be aware of a word being said.”

Weezy stared at him. She noticed Glaeken, the Lady, and Eddie doing the same. She voiced what she knew they were all thinking.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Not at all.” He began wandering around the table. “We can hire an anesthetist to put me under during the ceremony. I called Doc Hargus this morning and he said he could fix me up with one.”

Weezy couldn’t help it. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Jack glared at her. “Can I speak to you a minute? Alone? Outside?”

She hesitated, taken aback by his expression and the strange request. What couldn’t they say in front of Eddie, Glaeken, and the Lady? But how could she refuse?

“Sure.”

She followed him into the hall where he shut the door behind them and lowered his voice.

“Why are you so negative about this?”

“Because it’s crazy, Jack.”

“What’s crazy about it? Look at the situation: Rasalom is down but not out. In fact, he’s coming back and we don’t know how to find him to finish the job. As soon as he’s well enough, he’s going to want payback. How long do you think it’s going to take him to figure out I was behind the Nuckateague attack, if he hasn’t already? That means he’ll be coming after me anyway. So why not render him ‘powerless’ before he does? That will at least level the playing field.”

“But we don’t know what ‘powerless’ means. It could simply mean unable to bring about the Change. All his other advantages could very well remain intact.”

“But at least he’ll no longer be the One. There’ll be two with his Other Name, and that’s got to hamper him.”

“I don’t think that’s going to change the Lady’s mind.”

“It might. But I’ll never convince her with you constantly sniping at me.”

“I’m sorry, Jack, but I’ve got to say what I feel, and I think it’s a bad idea. What if you’re wrong?”

“Even if I’m wrong, can we afford not to take the chance? If Rasalom finds a way to extinguish the Lady, this whole opportunity goes with her. The option of the Other Name is entirely off the table because there’ll be no one to perform the ceremony.”

Was this why he’d wanted to talk in private-didn’t want to discuss the Lady’s demise in front of her?

“But he’s got nothing left to throw at her. If he did, he would have used it instead of trying that ambush.”

Jack’s mouth twisted. “That was just to test if she was still immune to Earthly harm.”

“Which means if he had another option, he would have used it.”

“I think Dawn’s child might have been part of his plan.”

Weezy’s heart clenched. She’d had the same feeling but hadn’t wanted to voice it.

“How could that baby be used against the Lady?”

He shook his head. “Wish I knew.”

“Let’s go back inside and ask the Lady herself.”

As Weezy started toward the door, Jack gripped her arm. “You’ll back me on the anesthesia?”

She didn’t want any walls between Jack and her, but she couldn’t get behind his plan.

“I think it’s a terrible risk but I’m willing to compromise: I’ll shut up and let you see if you can change her mind.”

He gave a curt nod. “Fair enough.”

Eddie gave her a what’s-going-on? look when they returned.

Glaeken said, “Have you settled your disagreements?”

“We ironed out a few things,” Weezy said, “but came up with an interesting question.” She turned to the Lady and pointed to the baby. “Can you think of any way that child can be used against you?”

The Lady sat still a moment, then shook her head. “Not a one. Why do you ask?”

Jack stepped forward. “We’re not sure. But consider what we know: We know the baby is brimming with the Otherness. And we know that Rasalom protected Dawn throughout her pregnancy, then took the baby into hiding right after he was born. He’s not the paternal sort and he’s got a one-track mind that’s fixed on the Change. He can’t effect the Change with you around, so that means…?”

Jack gave Weezy an expectant look, so she turned to the Lady and answered the implied question.

“He must think he can use the baby against you.”

Glaeken said, “Your conclusion has a certain circumstantial logic to it, but in reality…” He shrugged. “The baby has a deep, strong Taint, but is not as full of the Otherness as a full-blown q’qr. The Lady was around when the world was full of q’qrs and they never posed a threat to her. Their blood may be from the Otherness, but they are creatures of the Earth and powerless against her. Maybe Rasalom thought he might eventually find a use for the baby against the Lady, but that is moot now.”

The Lady nodded. “For now I have him.”

Jack and Weezy stared at each other. She was sure Jack’s suddenly troubled expression matched hers. She echoed Gia’s question from the other night:

“Do you think this could have been his plan all along?”

After a long pause, Jack shook his head. “I can’t see how getting caught in an exploding house and being set on fire and almost drowning and having a boat blown out from under you by a Stinger were part of his plan.”

Eddie cleared his throat. “Speaking from an actuarial perspective, none of that eliminates the possibility that his original plan was to return the baby to Dawn.”

“But Dawn is dead,” Jack said.

“True. But isn’t it true that this guy, this One, placed Dawn across the hall from Weezy? Which would place the baby, when returned to Dawn, in proximity to Weezy and, by extension, to the Lady.” He pointed to the Lady, then to the baby. “If so, mission accomplished.”

Weezy gave Jack a look. “Told you he’d bring a new perspective.”

Jack glanced at the baby, then the Lady. “Jeez.” Then at Eddie. “High or low probability?”

Eddie gave an uncomfortable shrug. “Wish I could say. I don’t have enough data.”

Weezy’s mind whirled with all the possibilities and permutations of the situation. “I have to tell you, this is way confusing.”

Glaeken said, “It is indeed. We don’t know what the One’s plans were for the baby, but Eddie, the Lady, and I came up with one of our own while you two were in conference.”

Jack said, “What about my idea?”

“It has merit.”

He dropped into his chair. “Well, that’s a start.”

“But it has serious flaws as well.”

“Like?”

Glaeken leaned forward. “What if the anesthesia is just a tiny bit too light and you hear the name during the ceremony? Or what if your brain registers it and stores it even if your consciousness doesn’t? What if you’re wrong and you don’t have to know the Other Name to allow Rasalom to ‘hear’ it within you? What if simply knowing you’ve been given his Other Name is enough?”

“A lot of what-ifs,” Jack said.

“Then here’s the ultimate what-if: If just one of those what-ifs is true, he will ‘hear’ the name within you. That means he will know where you are every minute of every day. You will never be able to surprise him again. But he will be able to surprise you. Knowing your whereabouts, he can bide his time, make his plans, and then strike when the time is right-for him.”

Weezy could see that struck a nerve with Jack. The idea of someone knowing his whereabouts at all times was bad enough, but when that someone was Rasalom…