‘‘Sometimes girls want to know the odds, too, Mr. Garrett.’’
I smelled the reek coming off that. ‘‘And being able to manipulate the other party?’’
‘‘Uh . . . The influence part was serendipity, Mr. Garrett. It wasn’t planned that way. Not so guys can improve their chances. It doesn’t do that very good, anyway. Kevans wanted to find a way to read people’s emotions and intentions. The rest of us all went in on it because we thought we could use it to help us not do the usual inappropriate stuff that scares people off. You’ve seen me go around with a foot in my mouth like a hunchback goes around with his hump. And then you saw me with Kyra.Kyra Tate! ’’
‘‘I was curious. But not too much. I didn’t want to jinx myself with Tinnie.’’
‘‘Yeah. Well, listen. I’m the gleaming social butterfly of the Faction. I’m the master of slick in that crew.’’
‘‘All right. I won’t disagree, based on what I’ve seen so far.’’
‘‘Really, honestly, the compliance device was only supposed to warn us when we were doing dumb stuff. So we’d stop. Plus, Kevans hoped it would help her get along better at home. But we couldn’t ever get the damned thing to do what we wanted it to do. It just let us figure out if somebody was in the mood. If you knew that, you could fiddle the spool a little and kind of tune them in.’’
Then he made a little squeaky noise. His eyes bugged. And I faced off with another invocation of the law of unintended consequences.
‘‘Power up its ability to influence. Figure out how to mass-produce it. You’ll get richer than Max Weider in a week. Call it the Shortcut. Something like that.’’
There might be holes in my reasoning but I knew I’d fingered the soul of it. I was sure, too, that even a superpower compliance device wouldn’t make irresistible studs of the Faction.
I was sure because I was them when I was that age.
Still, these baby blues had actually seen Kyra Tate tagging along after Cypres Prose, apparently liking it.
Did any of the Faction have the slightest notion how disruptive a workable compliance device would be? Socially?
We might be about to find out. The device might be the reason these kids were in the sights of somebody who could deploy a Lurking Felhske.
Staring into infinity, Kip said, ‘‘Oh my God! Ohmigod! Ohmigod!’’ Over and over, faster and faster.
Some wisps of mist over yonder had him seeing the unfortunate dead from back when first we’d met.
My own ghosts began to form. The same as before. I was armored with a powerful cynicism. They troubled me not. I heard no music, either.
Still, Kayanne and Maya did achieve a reality that surpassed the phantom stage. I didn’t doubt that I’d find them warm to the touch if I went over and fondled.
Eleanor did bother me. I still had issues there.
I dragged Kip toward the exit. Once out, I slapped his cheeks. It took three shots to shake him loose.
His eyes focused. He remained confused. ‘‘Listen!’’ I told him. ‘‘What happened in there did because of what your bunch have been doing. There’s something ancient and dreadful way down below here. Your bugs disturbed it. It’s trying to wake up.’’
Kip had no defiance left. ‘‘I don’t understand, Mr. Garrett.’’
‘‘I don’t, either.’’ I had a notion Bill Chimes couldn’t make it any clearer. Bill Chimes who had gone missing again. ‘‘All I can tell you is what I just did. That’s all I’ve been told myself.’’
His eyes glazed over. But he wasn’t going back to where he’d just been. He was doing what always boggles me when I witness it in a kid. He was thinking.
‘‘It would have to be something that operates in a mental realm like the one your partner occupies.’’
My partner. It could be time to drop everything and hustle my sweet self back to Chuckles. ‘‘It might be useful to have the whole Faction sit down with him. He’d make connections none of the rest of us can.’’
‘‘That won’t happen, Mr. Garrett. Nobody wants somebody digging around inside their head.’’
‘‘I understand that. I don’t like it myself. But he won’t do anything you don’t let him do. He isn’t some barbarian raider. Consider, though. He does have multiple minds. He can look at things from several viewpoints at once.’’
‘‘I know. I’ve suffered him before. It isn’t me you have to sell. Right now, despite everything you’ve told me, the Faction wouldn’t see a problem that needs solving.’’
I could have argued on but where was the point? Pushing kids in a direction they don’t want to go just makes them stubborn. Unless you’ve got a really big stick and don’t mind using it.
Better to be more clever.
‘‘I can’t force you. But you’ve had a taste. You know there’s something bad crawling out of the darkness.’’
‘‘Bad? I don’t—’’
‘‘Think about it, Kip. What do you know about ghosts? Why would the ghosts you saw wait for you here? Did any of them come anywhere near here when they were alive?’’
‘‘I’m young, Mr. Garrett. Not stupid. I see the implications.’’
Kip had had enough. He took off toward Tinnie and his friends. He and the friends headed out. Fast. I didn’t hear what they said. Kevans glanced back once; then the three rounded a dirty gray brick building, headed toward the Tenderloin. Headed for their hidey-hole.
42
Tinnie said, ‘‘So you did your Mr. Sensitive, bull thunder-lizard in Aeleya’s teagarden routine. And, lo! The kid didn’t knuckle under.’’
‘‘A gross exaggeration.’’
‘‘I’m sure. Here comes Saucerhead. Give him the true facts and ask what he thinks you could’ve done better.’’
‘‘I’m telling you this, Red. You keep picking and chipping . . . What the hell is she doing, tagging after Head?’’
‘‘She’’ would be Winger, stacked blonde slapped together on an epic scale. As tall as me. My friend, theoretically. But not a friend I want turning up anywhere where I’m the guy who’ll be held accountable.
Winger is a female Saucerhead Tharpe. With more flexible ethics. You don’t trust her around the family silver. Or anything else of value.
She does try. But she just can’t resist temptation.
Distracted by the approach of big, beautiful blond trouble, I didn’t immediately notice that she wasn’t Tharpe’s only companion.
He’d brought six people along. Well, five. The Remora, Jon Salvation, is just an extension of Winger, these days. He’s not really a person.
The rest were serious thugs. I recognized three of them. They’d be men a man I trusted could trust.
Saucerhead’s knack for selection was perfection in all particulars, excepting only family deserter Winger.
I cut Tharpe out of the crowd. ‘‘You’re gonna be the guy, here, Head. Your job is, keep everybody out unless they bring you a pass signed by me. No exceptions. Not even Winger. There are some hungry ghosts in there.’’
Saucerhead stared with eyes grown large. He didn’t want to believe me. But he couldn’t shove aside the fact that he’d been there with me so many times when the weirdness squared itself on the freaky scale.
‘‘Ghosts?’’
‘‘Something that looks like ghosts. It might be something else a whole lot worse. I’m hoping the Dead Man can figure it out.’’
He saw me give Winger the fish-eye. Again. ‘‘Don’t worry about her, Garrett. The Remora hanging around has straightened her up. She’s awed by the written word. It don’t change, no matter how much you bluster and threaten and try to make it.’’
That was one long-winded homily for Saucerhead Tharpe. ‘‘I’ll take your word. From what I hear tell, though, Jon Salvation isn’t exactly an impartial observer.’’
‘‘You think? Him mooning after her like she’s the born-again avatar of Romassa?’’
‘‘Romassa?’’
‘‘Goddess of physical love. For one a’ them tribes we worked with down in the Cantard. The Avatar was even bigger than Winger.’’ He did cupped hands in front of his chest. ‘‘Her job was to teach the young men coming up about doing it.’’