Whatever he learned by plunging into the unknown should at least leave
him with a greater understanding of his sacred life-saving mission and
the supernatural forces behind it. But now he was more confused than
before he’d come. Some developments had filled him with the wonder and
joy for which he longed: the ringing in the stone, for one; and the
beautiful, almost divine, light that was the essence of The Friend. He
had been moved to rapture by the revelation that he was not merely
saving lives but saving people so special that their survival would
improve the fate of the entire human race.
But that spiritual bliss had been snatched away from him by the growing
realization that The Friend was either not telling them the whole truth
or, worst case, was not telling them anything true at all. ‘The childish
petulance of the creature was unnerving in the extreme, and now Jim was
not sure that anything he had done since saving the Newsomes last May
was in the service of good rather than evil.
Yet his fear was still tempered by hope. Though a splinter of despair
had lodged in his heart and begun to fester, that spiritual infection
was held in check by the core of optimism, however fragile, that had
always been at the center of him.
Holly switched off the flashlight, returned from the open door, and s
down on her mattress. “I don’t know, maybe it was an empty threat, but
there’s no way of telling till we try to leave.”
“You want to?”
She shook her head. “What’s the point in getting off the farm anyway?
From everything we know, it can reach out to us anywhere we go.
Right? I mean it reached you in Laguna Niguel, sent you on these
missions, reached you out there in Nevada and sent you on to Boston to
rescue Nicholas O’Conner.”
“I’ve felt it with me, at times, no matter where I’ve gone. In Houston,
in Florida, in France, in England-it guided me, let me know what was
coming, so I could do the job it wanted done.”
Holly looked exhausted. She was drawn and paler than the eerie glow af
the gas lantern could account for, and her eyes were shadowed with rings
of weariness. She closed her eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge
of her nose with thumb and forefinger, a strained look on her face, as
if she was trying to suppress a headache.
With all his heart, Jim regretted that she had been drawn into this. But
like his fear and despair, his regret was impure, tempered by the deep
pleasure he took in her very presence. Though it was a selfish
attitude, he was glad that she was with him, no matter where this
strange night lead them. He was no longer alone.
Still pinching the bridge of her nose, the lines in her forehead carved
deep by her scowl, Holly said, “This creature isn’t restricted to the
area near the pond, or just to psychic contact across great distances.
It can manifest itself anywhere, judging by the scratches it left in my
sides and the way it entered the ceiling of your bedroom this morning.”
“Well, now wait,” he said, “we know The Enemy can materialize over a
considerable distance, yes, but we don’t know that The Friend has that
ability. It was The Enemy that came out of your dream and The Enemy
that tried to reach us this morning.”
Holly opened her eyes and lowered her hand from her face. Her expression
was bleak. “I think they’re one and the same.”
“What?”
“The Enemy and The Friend. I don’t believe two entities are living
under the pond, in that starship, if there is a starship, which I guess
there is. I think there’s only a single entity. The Friend and The
Enemy are nothing more than different aspects of it.”
Holly’s implication was clear, but it was too frightening for Jim to
accept immediately. He said, “You can’t be serious? You might as well
be saying. . . it’s insane.”
“That is what I’m saying. It’s suffering the alien equivalent of a
split personality. It’s acting out both personalities, but isn’t