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chair. Jeaves said you looked pretty banged up when you came in last
night. Broder touched his arm, voice full of concern.
Ruskin laughed shakily, as the memory flashed: the dark figure, an
explosion of light;
coming out of the darkness and finding his wounds; and on the ground, bits of
He shuddered, gripping the arms of the chair. He felt cold, very cold.
And yet. Here he sat, neat and clean. Intact.
Except for his memory.
For a frozen instant, he gazed at the two men: a tableau of three,
each wondering at the others thoughts. Gorminski had called him
Willard
. Did he dare trust them? Broder could have been the tall figure; but
somehow he thought not. And yet &
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You don t have to tell us. Broder chuckled. You look to be in
pretty good shape now, anyway. He narrowed his gaze at Ruskin. Did you
feel better by the time you got back?
Ruskin opened his mouth and closed it. That was exactly what Jeaves had
asked him. He stared at Broder in confusion. I can t & exactly say that I
did. I guess. He forced a smile. I
was feeling pretty exhausted. It s hard to say.
Broder and Gorminski exchanged glances. You really shouldn t have gone so far
from the lodge by yourself, Gorminski admonished him. At least not
without a monitor. Just for safety s sake.
Were you injured? Broder asked. We could give you a medical
scan we re fully equipped, you know. His voice was almost buoyant with
concern.
Too much concern? Ruskin wondered. And why did Broder keep fingering that
medallion on the front of his shirt? Trying to hide his uncertainty, Ruskin
rubbed the back of his neck. I
did take a nasty fall, I think. But I m okay now.
Broder gazed at him with a frightening intensity. You think you took a fall?
You don t know
?
Well Ruskin forced a laugh. The lie had come forth easily, without his
quite knowing why. I was kind of dazed when I got back.
You didn t Broder frowned and tapped his head give yourself a knock, did
you? He glanced at Gorminski with an expression that Ruskin couldn t read.
Ruskin let his breath out and nodded. I did have a bit of a headache. To be
honest, I He hesitated.
To be honest &
did he want to be honest with these men? Something held him back from telling
what he knew. Did they know he d been attacked?
You what, Willard? Broder leaned forward, his hand still clutching
that medallion. His eyes held Ruskin s again, in a sharp stare.
Why is he probing so &
?
I m going to call Jeaves, Broder said suddenly, rocking back in
his chair. If you got a concussion, we should have him close by. That
okay with you?
Ruskin shrugged. Why not? He wondered what had made him lie what had made
him distrust these men. But he knew.
I didn t fall & someone tried to kill me
.
Broder closed his eyes for a moment, caressing the medallion. When
he opened them, it was to gaze back at Ruskin. Since you had a bit of a
head bump, maybe I ought to ask you this: Do you recall the state you
were in when you left here?
Huh? Bewildered, Ruskin turned to Gorminski, who was sober-faced and silent.
He tried to reach back in memory: but all he found was mist and
confusion. I was & in a bit of a hurry, wasn t I? That s why I forgot
to put on a monitor.
Broder s smile cracked into a grin. In a hurry? I would have put it a
little more strongly.
You were in quite a state, Willard!
Gazing at the floor, Ruskin tried to think, to probe the cottony
darkness of his memory.
There was something there, stirring in the dark. A memory of anger
surfaced, then disappeared. Anger? Yes, terrible anger. Rage. Betrayal.
And bewilderment. We had an argument. Didn t we? Yes, he knew they
had. But an argument terrible enough to warrant attempted murder?
Gorminski barked a laugh, then looked embarrassed. You really don t
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remember, do you? Broder asked.
Ah Ruskin cleared his throat. No. To be honest. The door opened and
Jeaves floated in, bearing a tray with a teapot, cups, and a plate of
crackers. I must have He frowned and allowed the sentence to die, as he
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