The Hollow Skull
Page 16
Cass took a step back. “I am nothing like you. I could never hurt people as you hurt them.”
Sio took a step toward her. “You will do to your people what I have done to this galaxy. I will place my supreme chips in your system and you will go out and conquer this world. You will subjugate all to your will.”
Cass edged toward the cliff. “If I become like you, I will have no will of my own. I will have no individuality, I will just be your puppet.”
“True.” Sio smiled thinly. “But even a puppet may dance before its strings are drawn tight. You will dance, Cass, and the heavens will applaud you.”
The fall over the cliff was over two hundred feet straight down. If she leaped, she would break her neck and die. That would not stop Sio, but Cass suspected nothing could. From the beginning, all had been hopeless. Perhaps it was better that Mary and her father had died the way they had, as human beings. Cass gathered her courage.
“I will not dance for you,” she said. “Bitch.”
Cass started to jump. Sio caught her arm.
She was very strong.
Sio smiled and pulled her away from the edge. She fondly caressed her hair as Cass shuddered in her arms. Sio spoke in a soothing voice.
“No, you are wrong. You will dance my dance. In the end, my child, everyone does.”
EPILOGUE
Professor John Fiese of Applied Nuclear Physics fame lived a double life. He was actually a college professor at UCLA, where he taught beginning and advanced physics. The position offered a perfect screen for his secret and more complex life as a leading scientist for a clandestine branch of a military weapons development division. The latter paid more but the former helped keep him sane.
It would have been easy to go nuts with the screw up at Madison one month earlier. Fortunately the public had been happy to accept the story that a rogue army colonel had stolen a single nuclear device from a facility deep in the desert and had committed suicide along with almost two thousand innocent witnesses. The cover-up story had opened the army to such a public scrutiny that no one thought the army had made it up to protect itself. That had been the calculated brilliance of the tale, and Professor Fiese had been responsible for most of it. He understood society almost as well as he understood physics.
Yet he still didn’t understand the stuff in the uranium mine outside Madison. They’d have to go back there someday and experiment again. It was dangerous, but the potential was too great to ignore. To use that remarkable substance to create a seemingly more advanced form of humanity. Imagine what such a being could do?
He wasn’t worried about the blow-up at the one roadblock the night before the nuclear blast. The boys in uniform had repeatedly assured him that no one had gotten past them.
Professor Fiese lived a double life in another sense as well. Although he had been happily married for fifteen of his forty-five years, he was not above having affairs with a few of his more discreet and attractive female students. Age was no psychological or physical barrier for him if the young women didn’t mind. He had slept with girls as young as eighteen and enjoyed himself immensely. At the beginning of each new quarter he always spent some secret time to scan the classroom for possible candidates. That very day, exactly four weeks after the small town of Madison had passed into history, Professor Fiese stood in front of his beginning physics class and checked out the room for gifts. He liked to think of them that way, as gifts he deserved to enjoy in return for offering his excellent teaching skills in a public setting. Professor Fiese had a high opinion of himself.
There was a blond girl sitting near the front that kept eyeing him. She was cute but very young. No matter, he would get to know her over the course of the quarter. There was something mysteriously alluring about her, but he didn’t know what it was. A power in her eyes maybe.
Yet he was delighted when at the finish of the first class she stayed behind to talk. He welcomed her graciously as she approached his podium.
“May I help you?” he asked.
She smiled. “I just wanted to thank you for your excellent lecture and to tell you that I am looking forward to spending the entire quarter with you.”
He nodded humbly yet he felt a curious disquiet. “What is your name?” he inquired.
“Sarah.” She leaned close in a confidential manner. She really did have lovely blue eyes. They literally seemed to dance. She added mischievously, “At least I go by that name. My real name might be something different.”
He was intrigued. “I hope we can get to know each other better.”
She was a bold young woman. She patted his hand and actually held on to it briefly. He found her directness curious and stimulating. For a moment she raised her index finger over the back of his hand. She had unusually long nails, and for a second he thought she was going to scratch him. It was a peculiar idea to have and he chastised himself for it. All she did was lightly brush his skin and then take the finger away. She noted the ring on his finger, damn.
“So you’re married,” she said.
He took a breath. “Is that a problem?”
She shook her head. “No. For some reason it makes me want to get to know you better faster.” She caught his eyes and winked. “It must be something unusual in my past, Professor.”
He chuckled. She was going to be fun.
She chuckled as well.
About the Author
CHRISTOPHER PIKE was born in Brooklyn, New York, but grew up in Los Angeles, where he lives to this day. Prior to becoming a writer, he worked in a factory, painted houses, and programmed computers. His hobbies include astronomy, meditating, running, playing with his nieces and nephews, and making sure his books are prominently displayed in local bookstores. He is the author of Last Act, Spellbound, Gimme a Kiss, Remember Me, Scavenger Hunt, Final Friends 1, 2, and 3, Fall into Darkness, See You Later, Witch, Die Softly, Bury Me Deep, Whisper of Death, Chain Letter 2: The Ancient Evil, Master of Murder, Monster, Road to Nowhere, The Eternal Enemy, The Immortal, The Wicked Heart, The Midnight Club, The Last Vampire, The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood, The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice, Remember Me 2: The Return, Remember Me 3: The Last Story, The Lost Mind, The Visitor, The Last Vampire 4: Phantom, The Last Vampire 5: Evil Thirst, The Last Vampire 6: Creatures of Forever, Execution of Innocence, Tales of Terror # 1, The Star Group, and The Hollow Skull, all available from Archway Paperbacks. Slumber Party, Weekend, Chain Letter, and Sati—an adult novel about a very unusual lady—are also by Mr. Pike.