Read Online Usher's Passing by Robert R. McCammon - Free Book Online Page B

roared in his ears. "How does it feel to be dying, Dad?" he heard himself ask in an acid voice. "You're about to lose everything, aren't you? The estate, the business, the Lodge, the money. None of it will be worth a damn when you're dust in a box, will it?" The oscilloscope had begun singing, and across the room Mrs. Reynolds nervously cleared her throat. Rix went on, "You're going to be dead soon, and no one's going to care—except maybe those bloodsuckers in the Pentagon. You deserve each other. God knows, the Usher name makes me sick to my stomach!"
    The skeleton on the bed hadn't moved. Suddenly, Walen lifted his skinny arms and softly clapped his hands together twice. "Very dramatic," he whispered. "Very heartfelt. But don't you worry about my dying, Rix. I'll let go when I choose, not before. Until then, I'll be right here."
    "I just can't seem to learn that things never change here, can I? I think I've stayed for too long already." He started to move away from the bed.
    "No. Wait." It was a command, and in spite of his anger, Rix obeyed. "There's something more I have to say."
    "Say it, then. I'm leaving."
    "As you please. But you've misjudged me, son. I've always had your best interests at heart."
    Rix almost laughed. "What?" he asked incredulously.
    "I am a human being, no matter what you think. I have feelings. I've made mistakes. But I've also understood my destiny, Rix, and I've prepared for it. Only . . . it's come upon me so fast, so fast." He paused as more fluids rushed through the tubes. "The indignity of death is the worst of it," he said softly. "I watched my father die like this. I knew what was ahead for me, as well as for my children. You can't turn your back on your Usher heritage, no matter how hard you try."
    "I'm going to do my best."
    "Are you? Really?" Walen's hand came out from under the sheet and moved to a small panel beside the bed. He began pressing buttons, and a series of television screens lit up on a console that had been built into the wall. The screens' contrast and brightness had been turned very low, so as not to hurt Walen's eyes, but Rix could make out the interior of the estate's Roman-styled natatorium, the indoor tennis courts, the helipad and the helicopter hangar behind the Gatehouse, the interior of the garage with its collection of antique automobiles, and a view of Usherland's front gates. The closed-circuit cameras panned slowly back and forth. "The Usher life doesn't have to be unpleasant," Walen said. "Look what we have here. Our own world. The freedom to do as we please, when we please. And we have influence, Rix—influence you've never even dreamt of."
    "Do you mean the power to blow whole countries off the map?" Rix asked sharply. In the increased illumination he saw the smiling skull of his father's face from the corner of his eye. He dared not look too closely.
    "Come now. Ushers only design and build the weapons. We don't aim them. It's nothing that Colt didn't do, or Winchester, or a hundred other men with vision. We've just taken the process a few steps further."
    "From flintlock muskets to laser guns. What's next? A weapon to murder babies in their mothers' wombs? Something to kill them before they grow up to be enemy soldiers?"
    The skull grinned. "You see? I always knew you were the most creative of my children."
    "I'll stick to writing."
    The television screens began to go dark. "Your mother needs you," Walen said.
    "She's got Boone and Katt."
    "Boone has other concerns. That wife of his has made him unstable. And Katt may pretend to be tough, but her emotions are like crystal. Your mother needs a shoulder to lean on right now. Jesus Christ! What's that hissing noise I keep hearing? It sounds as if it's coming from somewhere downstairs!"
    "Mother's spraying Lysol." Rix was amazed that his father could detect the distant noise.
    "It aggravates the piss out of me! Tell her to stop it. She needs you, Rix. Not Boone or Katt. You."
    "What about Cass and