Read Online The Frankenstein Factory by Edward D. Hoch - Free Book Online

another look at his patient.
    At five o’clock Freddy went down to relieve Hobbes, and the rest of them decided on an early dinner. Hilda served a fancy ice cream log topped with swirls of whipped cream for dessert and remembered to take some down to O’Connor, who was on guard duty.
    As he finished his dish Hobbes leaned back and said, “One thing we don’t have to worry about on this island is freezer capacity. The capsules of liquid nitrogen down below give off enough chill to cool the whole island. We use some of it for our freezer and air conditioning in the hot weather.” He glanced over at Earl. “How about another game of Laser?”
    “I don’t think I’m up to it.”
    “Come on, just the two of us. It won’t take long.”
    “Not if you’re as good as last time.”
    Hobbes set up the grid in the living room and they sat down on opposite sides of the board. Once their men were positioned, Hobbes flicked the light once to signal the beginning of the game. Earl rolled a nine and went first, splitting it between a captain and a chance-man. Hobbes rolled a seven and used it all on a chance-man. Then he tapped the button for the light beam, but he’d been overconfident. Earl’s chance-man had a mirrored side in position and the beam was reflected harmlessly off to the side.
    “My roll,” Earl said, taking the dice. It was a poor three and he could do little with it.
    Hobbes rolled a twelve, allowing a bonus move of two men. He placed them carefully on either side of the board, where they could reflect the beam onto Earl’s chest. “Your turn, Jazine.”
    Earl had to roll something higher than a five to move a blocking man into position before Hobbes fired the light beam again. He rolled a four. “Too bad,” Hobbes said and tapped the beam. The light reflected off his side piece and hit Earl.
    “That was a fast game.”
    Hobbes smiled contentedly. “Better luck next time.”
    “I’ll wait a bit before there’s a next time.”
    He sought out Vera and Tony, finding them together on the beach. The sun was just beginning to set in the western sky, dipping low over the blunted mountains of Baja California.
    “Over that way you can see the Volcano of the Three Virgins,” Tony said. “But it’s inactive, like all virgins.”
    “You’d know if anybody would,” Vera smiled. “Are you taking the shift after Freddy?”
    “So he can sneak up to your bedroom? Fat chance!”
    “Oh, come off it, Tony! You’re getting to be as bad as he is!”
    “Well, that’s what I came out here for,” Earl explained. “To see whether you or I relieved him at nine.”
    “You take it, if you don’t mind, Jazine.”
    “Sure.”
    He left them on the beach, drinking in the sunset like a pair of high school sweethearts, and went down to tell Freddy. He found him bent over the brain-scan machine, studying wavering white lines.
    “Any action from Frank?”
    “What? Oh, hello, Jazine. No, nothing new.”
    “You try some new scans?”
    “Yeah.” He switched off the machine. “What’s up?”
    “I’ll be down at nine to take over.”
    Freddy glanced at his digital watch. “Oh—look, I think I’ll take on an extra shift. Want to do some more brain tracings. Might as well do them while he’s still sleeping. Come down after midnight, will you?”
    “Sure. I’ll catch a doze in the meantime.”
    He had a beer in the kitchen, under Hilda’s silent presence, then told them in the living room to have someone wake him around midnight. He spent an hour in the room playing back some of the tapes he’d secretly made, using an earplug to listen, and then wrote up some notes for Crader, back in New York. Finally he went to bed, hoping for two or three hours’ sleep before guard duty.
    He dropped off to sleep almost at once in the darkened upstairs room, and found himself in a weird dream-world inhabited by Frankenstein monsters and lovely young women who all looked like Vera Morgan.
    It seemed he’d been there only a