Someone was calling to him out near the middle of the vast lake, calling him by name. Jak struck out, seeing a piece of rotting wood in his way. He pushed at it, but it bobbed up and down, blocking his way past. There was carving on it, the letters etched deep in the soft surface, some of them almost obliterated by a gray-green fungus. But he could make out the last part.
died in agony and sleeps forever waking .
Something immeasurably huge moved, swirling far below him in the water. The voice still called him, but it was moving away, becoming more faint. Treading water, Jak tried to make out something that appeared for a second through the fog. It was in a small boat, and it had a great nodding, spongelike head that was, mercifully, turned away from him.
At that moment he woke up, still in the clean, antiseptic cell of the security section of the Wizard Island Complex for Scientific Advancement.
It was hard to reckon how long the dream had lasted, but he felt refreshed, as though the rest of the night had passed peacefully. Still, the images continued to haunt him as he sat on the narrow bunk and waited for the mutie sec guard to bring breakfast. By squinting through the barred slot in the door, the boy was able to see the corner of a clock.
It was around the middle of E in the red. The first plate of pallid, tepid stodge normally arrived just as the pointer shaded from red into amber.
The sec man moved across his line of sight. Jak was tempted to call out to him, but he knew from previous attempts that it would be futile. The speaker on the wall would respond to him, but only to ask what his request was. His keen hearing caught the sound of someone walking in the corridor beyond the outer door. The sec man also heard the noise and stood up to block the entrance, blaster at the ready.
Jak guessed it was Ryan Cawdor even before he heard his voice.
“Hi. Can I come through to see my friend?”
There was the usual delay, but this time Ryan didn’t have to repeat what he’d said. The speaker came on almost instantly. “Greetings, stranger. The experimental sample can be seen. But work will be done on him during this three-color period. After that all access will be withdrawn.”
Jak didn’t much like the sound of that. Maybe it was getting time to move on out. He’d talk to Ryan first, though.
The rusty bolts slid open, and Ryan walked in. His long white silk scarf was wrapped around his throat and tucked into the neck of his coveralls. Jak grinned crookedly at the older man, who smiled back, brushing his mouth with the index finger of his right handthe signal they all knew for caution.
“You all right?”
“Sure.”
“Doc got piss-ant drunk last night.”
“In this place?”
Ryan laughed, moving in closer to the boy. “Yeah. Even in here. Got to talking with one of the scientists. Found out how interesting the work is.”
Jak was puzzled. He didn’t see where the conversation was leading.
Ryan sat down on the bed. “Fact is, we could all go like Baron Tourment. You remember him?”
Jak could hardly forget the evil genius who’d run the ville where he’d first lived, nor could he forget how the baron had ended up. “I get the meaning, Ryan.”
“Best we got things moving real fast, kid. Real fucking fast.”
Ryan jerked his thumb toward the half-open door in an unmistakable gesture, running his hand across the front of his own throat as if he were slicing it with a sharp blade. Jak shrugged his shoulders, showing open palms. How were they going to make the break from the security section without weapons?
“Glad it’s all good.” Ryan stood up.
“It’s good.”
“Guess I’ll have to go. The scientists are going to start their experiments on you today. So we might not meet up again.”
“I heard that,” Jak replied, also standing.
“Well. Best go, kid. Take care now, you hear. Everyone sends their best to you.”