Page 9 (1/2)

II

BJ&039;S

It was 3 ph, and even darker for Darcy Clarke, who had been sitting at his desk for the last hour, ever since the Necroscope called hi what the hell this latest &039;thing&039; was all about Alec Kyle&039;s personal habits? Especially the fact that he&039;d liked a drink now and then? What in the world could that have to do with Harry&039;s search for his wife and baby son? Answer: nothing Whichwith the sa used to the fact of his new body

And as if that weren&039;t enough, Darcy thought, / had to go and fuck about inside his head! Or get someone to do it forthat let Darcy live with it: the fact that E-Branch and the security of the people, the country, came first above all other considerations But it had been inevitable from the moment the Necroscope had let hi it, Darcy had been obliged to set the thing in ainst hope that it would never have to be brought into being, and he&039;d kept right on hoping until the h, definitely

From then on it had all been down to Doctor Ja rooious Harley Street One hell of a step up for a htclub circuits as a stage hypnotist! But E-Branch had found and elevated hi that they owned him And certainly he owed theht a half-hour after Darcy called for him, and why he had done what he&039;d done

Sinister? But in a way itE-Branch did had sinister i done to a friend And that hat bothered Darcy the most: that this

tih

Yet for all that Darcy felt guilty about this thing, the fact was that he hadn&039;t initiated it That had corey, almost anonymous entity known only as the Branch&039;s &039;Minister Responsible&039; It had been Darcy&039;s duty s stood, and the Minister&039;s to order counter measures

And (Darcy was pleased to remind himself) they could very easily have been much harsher measures, except he&039;d been able to advise in that respect, too So Harry had suffered a degree of minor, or maybe not so , wasn&039;t he? Darcy gave a sht have been to the back of his h was potentially the ood or evil He was the Necroscope, and Sir Keenan Gormley had &039;spotted&039; hi instinct, recruiting him to E-Branch But if Sir Keenan had &039;discovered&039; hiency just as easily find him?

For example the Russians By now they must be keenly interested (to say the very least) in Harry&039;s kind of ESP It was a weapon he had used against theh Harry &039;hione, still the atention of al surviving anization would be riveted upon their British counterparts&039; every move from this time on

It was even possible (barely, but possible) that the Russians already knew about British E-Branch&039;s &039;new&039; Necroscope! And wouldn&039;t that be causing them some concern! ? What, the ex-Head of Branch, Alec Kyle, back in business? Not brain-dead, or physicaly dead and blown to bits along with the Chateau Bronnitsy, but alive and wel and living in England? Not drained of al inteligence on a slab in some necrohty proportions, but sound as a bel and consorting with his old coleagues in London? Good God! By now they&039;d probably be thinking that every English to knohy! And how

Darcy found hiht of fancy, but of al ht as that of Harry Keogh, Necroscope

And the grin died on his face as he considered other possibilities

Assu - that they were still recovering froht - still there were other ESP-agencies in the world and Harry could conceivably fal into their hands

And not only anizations, too What a thief he&039;d make, what an assassin or terrorist!

Barriers, borders and brick walls couldn&039;t stop hi dead were in his debt and would go to any lengths, literally, to advise and protect hione down into the soil or up into the air, where it ritten like lore in sohty volume in an infinite encyclopedia for Harry to open and read If he had the time, but he didn&039;t because of his search

Oh, yes: Harry would be invaluable in the hands of any one of a score of criminal elements And it was still possible that his wife and child&039;s disappearance was connected in soanization Which hy the Branch was indeed working flat out to discover their whereabouts Oh, they were doing it for Harry, too, who had done soit for theood&039; And it was for that same common cause that Darcy had called in Doctor James Anderson

Anderson was the best, the very best there was: a hypnotist without peer in all the land, as far as was known

Working without anaesthetics on patients lulled to a painless immunity under the weird spell of Anderson&039;s eyes and systeeons had carried out the iven effortless birth in exceptionally aard circumstances; mentally traumatized and schizoid cases had shed their delusions and extraneous personalities to eaze And far more importantly where Darcy was concerned, Anderson was a master of the post-hypnotic coht

By the ti a master key, the Necroscope had been dead to the world, and probably to the dead, too! The drug Darcy had given hi pill, but a pill with a difference Distilled from the oriental yellow poppy - and as such an &039;opiate&039; - the principal active ingredient had the effect of opening the estion while he slept on The hypnotist would then insert himself into the subject&039;s drea those commands which the subject would act upon and accept as routine long after the drug had dispersed and he ake

Darcy had obtained the pills fro mental cases Not that Harry was ahim under Anderson&039;s control without the Necroscope hi Since he wasn&039;t a patient as such, it was i For rather than being a curative treatment, this was to be preventative

Darcy had been present throughout and re in detail Especially he remembered his only partly covert, his almost suspicious examination of Anderson himself: the way he&039;d considered the hypnotist&039;s attitude to be far too relaxed, too casualwell, in the light of what he was doing and who he orking on Didn&039;t he knoho this man was? But then he&039;d had to remind himself: no, of course Anderson didn&039;t knoho or what Harry was He was only doing what he&039;d been asked to do

Anderson was young,in a darkly huood-looking But e days, when he&039;d used to portray himself as some inscrutable deity of inner mind If so, then he&039;d succeeded very well indeed With his high-arching eyebrows, full, sensual lips - that seeainst the pallor of his face - and the sunken orbits of his eyes, dark as froive him a pair of horns and Anderson would be the very epitome of the devil! &039;A handsome devil,&039; yes

His hair was a shiny black, swept back and, Darcy suspected, lacquered into place His chin was narrow, aloatee; his sideburns were angled to sharp points mid-way between the lobes of his small flat ears and the corners of his mouth And as if to underline or emphasize his looks, he wore a cloak, which to Darcy&039;s et Anderson&039;s eyes, of course, were huge, black, and hypnotic And his voicewas velvet

Inside Harry&039;s room, the doctor had wasted no ti by the Necroscope&039;s bed, and lifting each of his eyelids in turn to check the dilation of his eyes Then, when Harry&039;s eyes stayed glassily open, the classic technique: a crystal pendant swinging on a chain, and the doctor&039;s soft, s Harry that he:

&039;Watch the lights, the sparkle, the heart of the crystal Feel the heartbeat as the crystal swings to and fro, and match it with your own &039; Then Anderson&039;s hand seeking and checking the pulse in the Necroscope&039;s wrist, his nod of approval, and the pendulu as the doctor&039;s marvellous voice continued:

&039;Harry, you can close your eyes and sleep now You are asleepyou are asleep but you will continue to hear me I am your heartbeat, your mind, your very life and soul I control you; I am you, and because we are one, you will obey me You will obey you, for I am you We are one, and we&039;re asleep, but we hear ourto us, and we obey

Can you hear me, Harry? If you can hear me, you may nod" The Necroscope had closed his eyes at Anderson&039;s command As he slowly nodded his head, so Darcy had found hih, you are a rare man with rare powersyou are a man with rare powersrare powers, yes Did you know that? That you&039;re a man with rare and wonderful powers?&039; Anderson hadn&039;t knohat Harry&039;s &039;rare powers&039; were; only that he was following Darcy Clarke&039;s instructions And again the Necroscope&039;s nod

&039;If others knew of your powers, they would want the use of thee powers Others ainst us, to harm you and me and the ones we love Do you understand?&039;

(Harry&039;s nod)

&039;Now listen,&039; Anderson had leaned closer to the man in the bed, his voiceas others know nothing of our powers We are safe only so long as we protect our powers Others must never knoe can do We must never speak of our powers You must never ever mention your powers to anyone You must never disclose them to anyone You must never display them to anyone Do you understand?&039;

(Harry&039;s slow, uncertain nod)

&039;You ht, Harry, but you may never speak of them, or display them or otherwise disclose them to others You may never, ever speak of them, or disclose or display them to others, no matter what the provocation, not even under the stress of extreme pain or torture Do you understand?&039; (Harry&039;s nod, more positive now)

&039;Now listen, Harry You are still you but / a to you - someone you don&039;t know! You don&039;t know me, but you can hear me If you can hear me, say yes&039; Harry&039;s head had commenced its almost robotic, mechanical nod; but now it paused, stiffened into iled a moment in the cave of his mouth, then stuttered:

&039;Yyeyes&039;

&039;Good! Now then, ood friend I&039;ve heard it said that you have a powers? Is this true? Answer rew pale, his eyelids fluttered and his tongue wobbled wildly Which was the point where Darcy had begun to wish he&039;d never set this in motion, except the possible alternative had been unthinkable

&039;Let&039;s be reasonable,&039; Anderson&039;s oh so persuasive voice had droned on &039;Let&039;s have a norer dry; your ue is freed and you can talk normally Let&039;s talk normally, shall we? Nohat is all this about these powers of yours? You can trust me, Harry Tell me about them &039;

At that the Necroscope had see; his mouth closed as he licked his lips; his Adam&039;s apple bobbed as he moistened his throat Then:

&039;Powers?&039; he said, enquiringly &039;Whose powers? You have e I&039; about&039; (At which Darcy had grinned, for this was more like it Harry didn&039;t see a &039;nor his head off!) Anderson had glanced at Darcy, nodded and said, &039;He was a difficult subject I know it&039;s hard to believe, that it looked very easy, but you&039;ll just have to take et into, and I could feel hi et these terrible headaches" He used a handkerchief to pat several beads of sweat froot a beauty right now! But let&039;s put it to the ultiood and trustworthy friend? So why don&039;t you ask him about these wonderful powers of his?&039;

&039;What?&039; Darcy had been taken by surprise &039;Just like that? I cantalk to him while he&039;s under?&039;

And: &039;Wait,&039; Anderson had told him, and turned back to the Necroscope &039;Harry, you have a friend here, Darcy Clarke Darcy wants to speak to you, Harry, and you will talk to him just as you have spoken to me: a perfectly normal conversation Do you understand?&039;

&039;Of course,&039; Harry had answered, a half-s face And without pause: &039;How&039;s it going, Darcy?&039;

For a moment Darcy had been taken aback; he hadn&039;t quite knohat to say Then words had for well, Harry And you?&039;

&039;Oh, so-so Better when I know about Brenda and the baby I mean, when I know they&039;re okay&039;

It was the lead Darcy had been looking for &039;Sure And as the Necroscope - I , right?&039;

Harry&039;s eyes had stayed closed, but he&039;d cocked his head inquiringly on one side &039;Eh?&039; he&039;d finally answered, frowning And: &039;It seems everyone is determined to talk in riddles today! Look, I hate to rush off like this but I&039;m - you know - busy? Do you mind?&039; And with that he&039;d rolled over in his bed, turning his back on both of the, &039;Not even you! You see, he won&039;t even talk to you about it -whatever "it" is Well, so far so good But now I&039;d like to hammer the point home I want to reinforce it and make absolutely certain that my post-hypnotic command is in place Except I warn you: this is very repetitious stuff I&039;ht certainly put you to sleep, too!&039; Anderson&039;s success had pleased hi him seem more warm and human

Darcy had stayed, however, and seen it out to the end And Anderson had been right: it was repetitious and boring, so that by the ti

&039;And now he can sleep it off,&039; the doctor had told Darcy, as they turned off the light and let themselves out of Harry&039;s room

Then, in his- office, Darcy had asked: &039;What next? Is there anything else I should do? I&039;&039;

Anderson had shrugged &039;He&039;ll probably see secret of Keogh&039;s is, all of your E-Branch agents presu it froht,&039; Darcy had nodded his agreement &039;We know about it, and Harry knoe know - &039;

&039; - Hence the confusion,&039; Anderson had finished for him &039;If I were you I wouldn&039;t test it: don&039;t even bring it up Or if you er?" But well away from this place&039;

And Darcy had seen the sense in that &039;And is that all? Nothing else I should know?&039;

Anderson had looked at hier one of yours?&039;

&039;That&039;s right He&039;s s to do But why do you ask? Is it i &039;There may be - I don&039;t know - side effects?&039; But before Darcy could show his alarm: &039;I mean, I&039;ve been into his mind - or not into it, but I have opened it up a little In soes And as I told you, Harry&039;s door was damned near welded shut! So I applied a little oil You see, it&039;s not sis and my eyes and my voice, Darcy - it&039;s also my mind No, I&039;m not an esper like you and yours, but I&039;m special in my oay just the sa ers! But Harry wasn&039;t one of thees, so to speak, well, he could be easier the next tiet hold of Keogh, it&039;s possible - just possible, et into his mind as "easily" as I seemed to&039;

They could undo what you&039;ve done?&039;

&039;Ah, no, I didn&039;t say that!&039; Anderson had held up a cautionary finger &039;What I&039;ve done is done, and as far as I know only I can break it But the rest of Harry&039;s ive in to hypnotic suggestion However, that&039;s a pretty big ht I shouldn&039;t worry about it if I were you&039;

But in fact Darcy Clarke hadn&039;t stopped worrying about it ever since, for close on five weeks It was a terrible idea, a fearful concept: to have someone break into ait; to weaken him in ways he wasn&039;t even aware of, then leave the doors of hishelplessly to and fro in the wind of some future mental intrusion!

Not that it was really as bad as all that, Darcy told hi to the present He was siain, that&039;s all It wasn&039;t as if the Necroscope was likely to coainst another hypnotist, noas it?

But still, it wasn&039;t the sort of thing Darcy Clarke himself would ever want to happen to him Not likely! And of course, it couldn&039;t ever happen to hi over hi, and on the other he wasn&039;t quite right But then, he wasn&039;t a precog

Which was perhaps just as well

That saht Harry took the Mobius route into the heart of Edinburgh and hailed a taxi It was raining and he didn&039;t want to walk -and anyway he wouldn&039;t knohere to go, for BJ&039;s wasn&039;t in the book But his taxi driver should know it

&039;BJ&039;s,&039; he told the man, who turned, looked back at him, and shook his head sadly

There&039;s a lot cheaper places tae get pissed, Chief, if ye must,&039; he said &039;But the booze in they damn wine bars costs a pretty penny, aye!&039; He was a &039;canny Scot,&039; obviously

Thanks for the advice,&039; Harry told him, &039;but BJ &039;s will do&039;

&039;As ye say,&039; the other shrugged &039;Ah expec&039; it&039;s the young lassies, aye&039; And they headed for BJ&039;s

The Necroscope quickly got hiht off Princes Street into a h Castle, his principal landmark, vanished into a rain-blurred sky, behind the co causeways The echoing canyon walls of bleakly uninteresting, almost subterranean streets and alleys sped by on both sides, and between squealing, nerve-rending swipes of the windscreen blades Harry could look ahead and see a pale glow of city lights reflected on the undersides of lowering clouds