Read Online Star quest by Dean Koontz - Free Book Online
Authors: Dean Koontz
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and moans: a simple flow of lacrimal fluid, the trembling of the body as he stumbled along. He passed by them without a glance.
"Seer," Babe said.
Tohm looked back to the man-child. "What?"
"That's his name. Seer."
"But why is he crying?"
"Suffice to say that he
sees"
"Sees what?"
"Not now. In time you'll come to understand. You won't like it."
He shrugged and followed the little man. These people could keep him waiting in the dark if they wanted tons he had found out with Hunk and the white-eyed boy. Best to follow and wait for the answers. And hope there were a few.
"This is quite an elaborate setup," he said as Babe showed him his room and bath. "The entrances and the offices, these rooms. How could you build them if you are not able to venture out in public? I mean, there would be the procuring of materials and all."
"The Old Man," Babe said. "He has access to robots. We programmed them to dig out the caves wherever silt had collected and to use the all form plasti-jell in making the walls and ceilings—and most of the furniture. The Old Man has a credit card. He can get anything with his unlimited funds through the black market und have the bill list the purchase as something entirely different. No one knew what he was really buying."
"Then the Old Man isn't really a Mutie?"
"Not strictly speaking," Babe said, exhaling a thin stream of odorless smoke between his teeth.
"Who is he?" Tohm asked, plopping down on an extremely comfortable bed.
"Oops! Secret Mustn't spill the major fruits of the tree."
"Sorry."
"Get some sleep. Can you find your way back to the control room in the morning?"
"I think so."
"Good night then." And he was gone, closing the door behind.
Tohm stretched out on the bunk, palmed off the lights. His head was swimming with things, hundreds of things, each more confusing than the other. He had come to hunt Tamilee, but he was finding himself reacting to the catgirl Mayna. He believed in fidelity. Strongly. But the juices that poured through him when he thought of the sleek form, the paw-feet, the lips…
The door opened suddenly. He sat up just as quickly. Seer looked in at him, eyes vacant, watery. "What do you want?" Tohm asked.
The old man looked at him, nothing more…
Somewhere in the distance, there was weeping, weeping somewhere far, far down in the guts of Seer, far, far down in his soul…
Just as suddenly as he had come, the Mutie left, closing the door with a solid thud. His footsteps scraped over the concrete, fading down the hall.
Tohm was sure he could not sleep now. In only days he had been plucked from a horizontal society of one plane and plunged down into a vertical, horizontal cross-hatch of meanings and purposes, drives and goals, currents and undercurrents. His own purpose was even be-ginning to cloud. He had to think to remember what Tarnilee looked like. At first, he pictured her with green eyes. Was that what the modem world did? Did it squash all love and memories of love? Or was this himself, changed? Ignoring all these doubts, still he would not be able to sleep. The place was crawling with eerie things, eerie people, an illegal operation as it was. He was sure of it. He was certain. But he fell into slumber almost instantly.
Chapter Nine
HE WOKE and smelled himself.
It wasn't pleasant. He got up and undressed, went into the bathroom and showered for half an hour, washing away all the things he had covered himself with in the past days, all the things other than dirt and sweat, the things that couldn't be seen or smelled but were nonetheless there.
The water gurgled, babbled, talked as the sea talked.
Water, he thought, was like a womb. Water was an aperture in the earth's belly from which Me crawled forth to be spanked by the hands of the Fates and the Furies. And water cleansed Me, washed away the dirt, leaving only the pure things which Nature first brought forth as her own. In the spring, it fell out of the heavens and splashed lightly onto the
"Seer," Babe said.
Tohm looked back to the man-child. "What?"
"That's his name. Seer."
"But why is he crying?"
"Suffice to say that he
sees"
"Sees what?"
"Not now. In time you'll come to understand. You won't like it."
He shrugged and followed the little man. These people could keep him waiting in the dark if they wanted tons he had found out with Hunk and the white-eyed boy. Best to follow and wait for the answers. And hope there were a few.
"This is quite an elaborate setup," he said as Babe showed him his room and bath. "The entrances and the offices, these rooms. How could you build them if you are not able to venture out in public? I mean, there would be the procuring of materials and all."
"The Old Man," Babe said. "He has access to robots. We programmed them to dig out the caves wherever silt had collected and to use the all form plasti-jell in making the walls and ceilings—and most of the furniture. The Old Man has a credit card. He can get anything with his unlimited funds through the black market und have the bill list the purchase as something entirely different. No one knew what he was really buying."
"Then the Old Man isn't really a Mutie?"
"Not strictly speaking," Babe said, exhaling a thin stream of odorless smoke between his teeth.
"Who is he?" Tohm asked, plopping down on an extremely comfortable bed.
"Oops! Secret Mustn't spill the major fruits of the tree."
"Sorry."
"Get some sleep. Can you find your way back to the control room in the morning?"
"I think so."
"Good night then." And he was gone, closing the door behind.
Tohm stretched out on the bunk, palmed off the lights. His head was swimming with things, hundreds of things, each more confusing than the other. He had come to hunt Tamilee, but he was finding himself reacting to the catgirl Mayna. He believed in fidelity. Strongly. But the juices that poured through him when he thought of the sleek form, the paw-feet, the lips…
The door opened suddenly. He sat up just as quickly. Seer looked in at him, eyes vacant, watery. "What do you want?" Tohm asked.
The old man looked at him, nothing more…
Somewhere in the distance, there was weeping, weeping somewhere far, far down in the guts of Seer, far, far down in his soul…
Just as suddenly as he had come, the Mutie left, closing the door with a solid thud. His footsteps scraped over the concrete, fading down the hall.
Tohm was sure he could not sleep now. In only days he had been plucked from a horizontal society of one plane and plunged down into a vertical, horizontal cross-hatch of meanings and purposes, drives and goals, currents and undercurrents. His own purpose was even be-ginning to cloud. He had to think to remember what Tarnilee looked like. At first, he pictured her with green eyes. Was that what the modem world did? Did it squash all love and memories of love? Or was this himself, changed? Ignoring all these doubts, still he would not be able to sleep. The place was crawling with eerie things, eerie people, an illegal operation as it was. He was sure of it. He was certain. But he fell into slumber almost instantly.
Chapter Nine
HE WOKE and smelled himself.
It wasn't pleasant. He got up and undressed, went into the bathroom and showered for half an hour, washing away all the things he had covered himself with in the past days, all the things other than dirt and sweat, the things that couldn't be seen or smelled but were nonetheless there.
The water gurgled, babbled, talked as the sea talked.
Water, he thought, was like a womb. Water was an aperture in the earth's belly from which Me crawled forth to be spanked by the hands of the Fates and the Furies. And water cleansed Me, washed away the dirt, leaving only the pure things which Nature first brought forth as her own. In the spring, it fell out of the heavens and splashed lightly onto the
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