Elvissey

by Jack Womack

  "Come on." We ascended two steps at a time, steering around rubble fallen down from the pediment. Dust sandblasted our skin as the wind raked us; oily smoke blinded me, and soon we were only fumbling forward and up, lifting our shoes quickly from the steps so as not to sear them. I dropped as we reached the top, taking my husband with me, fearful that if we continued upright we'd smother, halfway across the portico. We dragged ourselves faster than we could have walked; shimmers playing over the entranceways' interiors evidenced that the nave had taken fire. Explosions rang the stone underneath as a clapper rings a bell; I crawled all the faster, dragging John along, believing that the columns would at any moment shiver down onto us. My compact warmed my hands; my clothes began to smolder.

  "I love you, Iz-"

  "I know," I sighed; pulled myself into the first revolving door we reached, careful not to touch the red-hot brass vanes until it essentialled. After I hauled John in with me, assuring that all of him was within our wedge before I stood, I positioned my feet and one hand against the metal doors to adjust the final fit, sealing us in as I thumbed my compact. I unbodied, and barely felt the burn; watched the columns outside crack and fall as flames tongued their grooves, wondering how long it would take us to bake. The columns, the fires; all suddenly whited out, and I no longer noticed any sensation of temperature as I pressed against the doors. Momentslong, our world reappeared; I spun us around, that we might fall into it. London's air, here, was so fresh by comparison as if it came from tanks; as I inhaled its sweetness, exhaling black when I coughed, I pressed myself against the cool stone as if it were my own bed. John, too, came through whole; he lay where he'd spilled, touching his fingers to his broken face as if it were my body. Staring out into the plaza, I saw that the Elvissey was over; the worshipers, surely disappointed but as surely not disheartened, had left. Dozens of workpeople were packing away speakers, gathering up discards, hosing blood off the steps. When I looked rightward, I saw the door through which we must originally have passed; several bobbies and three or four suited men encircled the entranceway. At first I couldn't see what it was they surrounded. A tourguide, splendid in his vicar's costume, turned away from their group and saw us. He tapped his compatriots' shoulders, and as they looked over I heard one speak.

  "Call Malloy," the man said. As two of them rushed into the cathedral I saw a pair of trousers lying at the doorway; shoes protruded from the trousers. At first I thought they'd been stuffed with batting, as if for a party prank. Then it occurred to me that the window between worlds must have extended some distance beyond our doored compartment when it opened; when it closed, it closed-partly-on Leverett.

  The men who'd gone inside reemerged. "That's them," said one.

  "The darkie, too?" They nodded.

  12

  The Dero weren't born bad, E once explained to me during our talks; they just grew into it. Anything they did or thought harmed, though they apparently believed that their intentions were inevitably good; they could never have spread falsehood among others, had they not first perfected the lies they told themselves. The Dero adjusted so well to their caves and to the bottom of their shafts, that they convinced themselves that everyone should share the pleasure they knew, and so they set about guaranteeing that everyone would.

  When morningshine woke me I coughed for several minutes, continuing to spew another world's soot. I'd opened the windows before bedding; dragonflies whirred round my room, hovering momentslong before me as if snapping pictures. At length I stood, and examined my hand's bandage, peering underneath at the damage evidenced. The air was no less warm than it had been since I'd arrived; compared to where we'd been, it chilled me, and I drew on my robe.

  The clock read ten-thirty; switching on the telecom, I coded the New York office, hoping to contact Judy, and aware her of our conclusions. Several jets overheaded, without; while they passed the screen blurred, imaging. When at last the colors coalesced, I faced a young blond woman sitting at the reception desk. "Please tree me onto Madam, if she's present," I said, still attempting to blink myself awake.

  "Who asks?"

  "Her assistant, Isabel," I said. "It's a London call. Is she there? Would you please connect us?"

  "I'm Madam's assistant," she said; the woman's smile was no less realistic than Leverett's had ever been, and her eyes were so glassy as the Elvisoid's. "I was assigned the position this morning,"

  "Temp-?"

  "Permanent," she said, setting her computer on datacall, eyeing her screen. "Your name is Isabel, you said? Isabel Bonney?"

  "Isabel will do. If you'll connect me with Madam-"

  "Isabel Bonney, and you were most recently assigned to the E Project?"

  "I was. This interrogation's unneeded, would you please-"

  "As of this morning the E Project has been ruled a nonevent," the woman told me. "All pertinent information has been defiled from Dryco systems. In accordance with an all-inclusive directive, participating New York office employees are terminated. Your husband, John Bonney-"

  "Put me through to Madam," I said, wondering if I might still be sleeping. "Now."

  "-has been informed prior to our conversation of his newly nonexistent state. Your financial holdings and accounts have been appropriated by Dryco to cover processing expenses-"

  "Bestill.! Listen to me-!"

  "Is there a preferred location where personal possessions in your home and office may be transferred?"

  "Don't touch my things," I shouted at the screen; the woman countenanced nothing untoward. `Judy? Judy! I know you're eavesdropping this-"

  "As no preferred deposit location is given, all possessions will be therefore claimed by Dryco to cover transferral costs," she said. "All Dryco ID and charge cards are herewith nullified, including all Shoprivilege benefits. Healthcare privileges are immediately revoked-"

  "Shut up! Judy-!"

  "If you have been employing Dryco transportation during your trip, those tickets presently held are automatically voided-"

  "Answer me!!"

  "Inquiries regarding additional details relating to your severance package are to be answered by Mister Malloy, in the London office," she said. "Hotel checkout time is twelve, Greenwich."

  "Don't-"

  "Do good, feel real. Thank you for calling Dryco."

  "Answer me! Judy!! Motherfucker! Bitch! Judy-"

  The ease with which, pressured, I'd slipped into childhood's language patterns surprised me most, that morning. Being at last erased from Dryco wasn't such a shock in itself; in time it happened to all, and I'd left alive, at least. As I lay crying on the bed, listening to a phone ring in a room across the courtyard, I wondered why Judy slatecleaned me in trad manner, where the one departing loses not only the position but all existence up until that point. That was what I'd always feared, the threat of having my reality snatched from me; and if I were to be vaporized, I'd have hoped it would be for some wrong I'd actually committed. I remembered telling this to Judy once; I suspected she kept it minded for future use. She had so much difficulty regooding as any of us, after all; it was only natural that it would be those she'd known the longest with whom she'd backslide. A dragonfly bumped against the window-glass, breaking itself. Once cried dry, I sat up; coded Malloy's number in on the switcher, onscreening him almost at once.

  "Isabel," he said, seeing me. "I was about to call-"

  "Were you?" I asked; his face inhered a sadness which appeared not entirely false. "I'm awared I'm to contact you for further details. Are you sending Willy over to street me?"

  "Not at all," he said. "You've spoken to them in New York?"

  "A woman I've never seen before erased me," I said. "I'm keeping my pocketed money and my clothes. Otherwise-"

  "Isabel, Madam's doings aren't mine," Malloy said. "Hear me, please."

  "Dryco unisons its acts," I said. "I've seen, I know-"

  "In America, possibly, though of late I have my doubts. Alacrity and impunity are my bywords, so long as the profits hold. Sea
t yourself and have a listen. All right?"

  "Speak, then. What's left to be said?"

  "More than you think," Malloy told me. "The only property I'm to seize from you is the compact Alekhine you so usefully employed last evening. It's not something I imagine you wish returned to you in any circumstance."

  "That's so," I said. "You've spoken directly to Madam?"

  "I did at home last night, after they called me from the hospital," he said. "She'd received her own reports in from the saturnalia and had evidently reached her decisions in advance of speaking to me. All seemed rainright, first off the bat. Leverett's fate appeared to cheer her immensely. Glee glazed her eyes as I recounted what I'd been told. But then when I broached the subject of your survival-"

  "She chilled. So I gather-"

  "She's a cold one, for sure," he said. "Struck me that she'd been gardening her mood for some time to get such a crop. When did you speak with her last?"

  "Two months ago. We'd worded almost daily before then, but Leverett threatened. Had me cut the wires. He had me eyed constantly, and I couldn't contact her. She was distrusting me even then-"

  Malloy shook his head. "Leverett's tarbrush blackens even from the grave," he said. "Inferring from her comments, he allowed to Madam that you yourself had clipped, and thrown in completely with his project. Appears she believed not wisely but too well. `No one betrays me but once,' she told me."

  "Why wouldn't she tell me herself, then? Did she say?"

  "I asked her if she didn't feel that would be the preferable method. She told me she didn't want to hurt you," Malloy said. "The upperlevel madness over there's always astonishing. Twelve contradictories believed at once, that sort of thing."

  "It's in the system's nature-" I said.

  "Certainly in her nature. Last year she had me organize medical experiments I'm still pretending I know nothing about. Horrible stuff, horrible-"

  I stared into his face, seeking signs of falsehood; saw no flush, no quick blinkings, no shifting eyes. "Did they involve something called Melaway?" I asked; he frowned.

  "You've heard, then," he said. "Utterly mad. The pot painting the kettle white, too, I'd call it. What's to be said, Isabel, that hasn't been?"

  "Very little," I said, at once feeling myself more comfortable in his presence again, however much one day it might prove a mistake. "I'm as glad to be done with it, whatever happens next."

  "Yes, we need to discuss that," he said. "How are you this morning, in any event? Looked a bit peaked last night, I heard. Still appear somewhat underweathered, but it's evident you're in better shape than Leverett, as it were."

  "I'm better," I said. "I should see Doctor Harrison again, mayhap, while I can."

  "He did you right, yesterday? That's good. I only go in when nature calls. If I start heaving blood or something."

  "My baby, I need to be sure," I said; felt myself slipping once more. "I won't be able to once I'm returned-"

  "Isabel, listen," he said. "As told, we've room for you here. I've final discretion over here as to what's to be done with miscreants if I so choose."

  "Would I be placed so easily here?" I asked. "Last night-"

  "We wouldn't bereave you," he said. "I'd certify that."

  "Judy certified much as well, over time-"

  "I'm notJudy, whomever she might be. I'm not sure what we'll have you doing, but Madam won't hear of it and even if she does it'll not concern her. This morning I spoke to my sister, estimating it wise to make a preparation or two. Croppie says she's a room for you in her flat. Lives in Bow. Enchanting neighborhood, and the crime rate's been plunging for years now."

  "She works for Dryco, too?"

  "Perish forbid," he said. "She's an artist. I believe you've something in common."

  He winked; if I were to have no other choices, I could think of worse ones to have. Perhaps Malloy would prove to be more worthy of my trust than I'd proved to have been to Judy's. "Thank you," I told him. "I'm muted-"

  "That's fine, I generally talk enough for three or four. Allow me to call the desk there and tell them you're covered through tonight. My sister and I will come by for you around six and haul you away. Would that be suitable?"

  "Yes ..." I said. "More than suitable. Malloy-"

  "This evening, then," he said, allowing his image to fade. "It's been real."

  For several minutes after Malloy unscreened I sat there, addled by events; grateful for once that Dryco's left never knew what its right was doing. Certain now that I was no longer asleep, I switched off the telecom. Walking into the bathroom I turned on the tap, deciding to bathe and allow my body to enjoy the same float my mind presently knew. I was unseeable through the window, and opened it wide, breathing in eucalyptus scent, clearing my nose of lingering soot. London wouldn't be so much worse than New York, save on occasions, I thought as I layered the surface of the rising water with bath salts. As I windowgazed, slipping off my robe, I noted an odd odor which at first I thought wafted from the salts; a chemical tang, such as the scent which clings to preserved fruit. Turning, I saw John behind me, shutting the bathroom door, locking us in.

  "Checkout time, Iz," he said, favoring his bad leg as he stood there. His nose was held placed by lengths of gauze wrapped round his head; he'd had nothing done to his cheekbone save to have the bruises painted. I'd not heard my husband enter either my room or the bath; he'd moved so silently, damaged, as he ever did when whole.

  "What's wanted, John?" I asked, bandaging myself with a towel; reaching behind me, I shut off the water. My husband stood where he'd placed himself, unmoving, stroking my hands with his, gesturing no overted threat.

  "To see you, Iz," he said. "We barely talked last night."

  "Please go out until I dress," I said. "Please-"

  "The family that stays together," he said, "stays together. But you should have left me there, Iz. You should have."

  "I couldn't," I said. "Please, John, one minute, that's all-"

  "We don't talk anymore, Iz," he said, unpocketing his razor, unsheathing its length. "I was whole again for a while. This rips me-"

  His eyes so hazed as to appear him blind; when he spoke he voiced child's tones, hinting fear, anxious for approval, set to tantrum. Sunlight glinted the razor's metal; I stared away from its flash, focusing elsewhere, hoping to sight something I might use to distract. Only his mouth's droop suggested that he wouldn't hazard me yet; I willed calm to blanket me while he was armed.

  "Understood," I said, hugging myself. "Will you let me robe?" He nodded, and I gathered up my wrap, hiding within its folds as he watched; stared, rather, appearing to eye what lay in my head as if I'd gone see-through. "Talk, John. Show and tell."

  He took my right hand in his left, and extended my arm full-length; raising his blade, he closed it shut. "We were one, Iz," he said. "Once and then again. What happened?"

  "Too much happened."

  He nodded; shook slightly as he stood there, clasping my hand, blocking the door. Too many meters separated the window from the courtyard, even were I able to breakaway and throw myself through before he might catch me. "The first day over there," he said. "Before we met him. We were like we were. It wonderfulled."

  "We seemed to be as we'd been," I said. "But you know how long we'd been troubling before that. That was our last chance, and it didn't take. Neither of us is faulted. It's not workable anymore, that's all."

  "The world's regooding without us," he said. "We're unregoodable."

  "We imagined perfection," I said. "Was it ever so?" He lipstilled; stared windowways, at sparrows perched in a plane tree's limbs. Rotating his wrist as if unstiffening the wires, he flipped the blade free of its compartment once more, and then flipped it back in; out, in, out again.

  "What's our life still hold, Iz?" he asked. "We're jobless. Homeless. Purposeless. What's left?"

  "We're left," I said.

  "But disunited. You know I'll not last. Do you think you will?"

  "Of course-"

&n
bsp; "We're more alike than you've ever admitted, Iz," he said. "Singled, will you want to last? An isolate's life's neither mine nor yours."

  "My baby's left," I said.

  "His baby," he said; I allowed it to pass. "If it's birthed, will it live? It's chanceless, Iz, that's known."

  "Unknown," I said, trying to loose my hand from his; he gripped me all the tighter, and leaned forward, as if to bite. "And Malloy's arranging something here, in London-"

  "Something for you, Iz," John said. "I went unmentioned."

  "You overheard?" He nodded, fixing a firmer hold on my forearm, squeezing the muscle. "You were roomed here with me? Where-?"

  "Outside," he said. "If that's done, Iz, what happens to me? Where do I go?"

  "John, the moment spurred and I reacted sole. I'll ask-"

  "You've exed me too, then? All've exed me. It's not as written, Iz, it's not."

  "Loosen," I said, attempting to draw away from him. "You're hurting me, John-"

  "Mutualities," he said. "How do you know he told you true, Iz?"

  "I'm assured-"

  "People you've known yearslong have falsetongued you," he said. "Your workmates and betters. Family and friends. He's truthed you? You know that?"

  I didn't; there was no rationalizing why I should have taken Malloy's word as truth, not after so few days. Yet it wasn't as if propinquital duration effected overmuch, longterm. Malloy would comfort me, surely; so had Judy. He'd secure me, undoubted; so had Leverett. He'd improve me, likely as not; so had Dryco.

  "You don't know, Iz. You don't. All people betrayed you, save me."

  "Agreed," I said; his bag's odor permeated the room's warm air. "But you never told me what you were doing at night. That's horrible-"

  "You'd have wanted to know?" he asked. "Our jobs were always separate, Iz. As we wanted. But then my job wasn't mine anymore."

  "That didn't essential-"