I sighed. You mean Nelson?
DAMN YOU ALL! WHY CAN'T ANY OF YOU MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
All three of us jumped violently. It was Nelson's voice, but so convulsed with fury as to make it almost unrecognizable. Hey, Nelson, take it easy, I said. We didn't know you were listening in.
Of course not. You'd much rather plot my destruction in private, wouldn't you? You and that holier-than-thou Amos. Well, I warned him!
Something was wrong here. Even given Nelson's strong emotion, his contact shouldn't be this strong.
Nelson, where are you? I asked carefully.
Something was wrong here. Even given Nelson's strong emotion, his contact shouldn't be this strong.
Nelson, where are you? I asked carefully.
Damn you, Nelson! Gordy suddenly interjected. You killed him, didn't you? Amos caught you sneaking into Vegas, so you conditioned those thugs to hijack the plane and kill him!
It was his own fault, Nelson shot back. It was none of his damn business how I make my money. I had to do it-can't you see that?
He'd gone from angry to pleading in the space of a single sentence, and I didn't like it a bit. Was he starting to crack up?
You'd like that, wouldn't you? Well, if I go, you're going with me!
And that shook me clear down to my toes. It had come up so quickly and so unexpectedly that I hadn't noticed: Nelson and I were in close-approach contact.
Nelson was only a hundred miles away!
And getting closer, he mocked me. I know where you are, too; I listened to you give the directions to your pals this morning. I'll be overhead before you know it.
Nelson, are you nuts? Gordy cut in. You'll kill both of you.
And why not? You're all out to destroy me anyway. I might as well take one of you with me. I've got nothing to lose now.
Dale, get out of there, Calvin ordered. You've got to try and get away from him.
I took three steps toward the door and froze. Get away where? I don't know what direction he's coming from!
Nelson laughed. His thoughts were getting progressively louder, and it was becoming harder and harder to hear Gordy and Calvin over the noise. Calvin had to virtually shout his next message. Use the telepath finder. Maybe it really is working.
I sprang over to the table, snatched up the box, and flipped the switch. In "tare" mode it once again pointed north by west-and stayed there even when I moved out of the way. Instead of coming straight up from San Diego, Nelson had circled around and was bearing down on me from the north. Clutching the box like a talisman, I ran outside to the car.
And then the nightmare began.
There was no way I could outrun Nelson, and we both knew it. His Piper Comanche had a cruising speed of at least a hundred eighty miles an hour and could travel in a straight line, while I had to stay on winding mountain roads at a quarter of his speed. If I could have gone at right angles to his path, let him overshoot me, I might have had a chance. But it was already too late for that sort of trick. Nelson had complete access to my surface thoughts, and there was no way for me to make any plans without his knowledge.
complete access to my surface thoughts, and there was no way for me to make any plans without his knowledge.
I gritted my teeth and drove on, trying in vain to shut out the increasing pressure slowly crushing my mind.
A curve came up, too fast. I tapped on the brake, managed to negotiate the turn without losing too much speed. Every fiber of my being was screaming for me to get away, but I had no intention of driving off a cliff for Nelson's convenience. Wiping my palms, one at a time, on my pants, I tried to think.
I was completely cut off from Calvin and Gordy now-the close approach had been blocking any other contact practically from the minute I left the cabin. They would know enough to call the police, of course, but there was little chance the cops could help me. It would be less than an hour before Nelson closed to the twenty-mile gap that would ensure mental disintegration for both of us. The Air Force? They could act swiftly, but they'd first have to be persuaded to get involved. And in a completely non-military situation like this, the chances of that were essentially zero.
A reddish haze, more felt than seen, was growing at the edge of my mind. Nelson, why are you doing this to us? It can't gain you anything.
You've all worked against me: you, Amos, Calvin-everybody. You've robbed me of the money and power I could have had-that I deserved. But at least I command my own death. And before that I'm going to make you fear me. You are afraid, aren't you, Dale?
He knew I was. For himself, Nelson felt no fear: only pain, anger, and morbid satisfaction. His death wish wrapped around me, tinging the reddish haze with black. Blinking back tears of agony, I kept going.
I don't know how long I drove, or how many close calls I had with the many cliffs I passed. Indeed, I hardly even noticed the road any more; I drove by sheer reflex. As inexorably as the tide, Nelson's mind slowly washed over mine. Our thoughts, memories, and emotions intertwined, becoming bent and altered by the force of the collision. I saw his decision to kill Amos, and his conditioning of an airline attendant and three drifters to set up and execute the hijacking. I watched the agony of Amos's death, and knew that he'd realized, too late, what was happening. Nelson's current plan was laid bare; how he'd tried to beat me to the cabin and destroy both the telepath finder and the evidence of his gambling. I felt his lust for power, his anger and frustrations-at himself, me, the work!-his self-doubts... and all this was becoming part of me. I was slowly being lost in this thing, this Dale/Nelson creature which was being created; and the knowledge that Nelson was similarly being swallowed up only added to my terror.
And all too soon, I saw the end approaching.
I mean that literally, for in a very real sense whatever there was that was still Dale Ravenhall was now occupying two separate bodies. I could actually see both the road ahead of me and the more majestic view from Nelson's Comanche. I could feel the plane's vibration, touch two different steering wheels...
and I knew the agony would soon be over.
Yes, soon we'll be dead. Was that my thought or Nelson's? Not that the distinction mattered much any more. I paused for a moment to look through Nelson's eyes, to gaze at the mountains I would never see again... and, suddenly, a sharp left-hand curve around a cliff loomed ahead.
I gasped, and Nelson's death wish within me fragmented as a surge of survival instinct snapped a portion of my mind out of the growing chaos. Stomping hard on the brake, I wrenched the wheel hard to the left; and as the squeal of tires filled my ears, I saw I had overcorrected. The side of the mountain rushed at me, and I leaned back, bracing for the crash.
and as the squeal of tires filled my ears, I saw I had overcorrected. The side of the mountain rushed at me, and I leaned back, bracing for the crash..
I woke up slowly, painfully, and with a sense of complete disorientation; but what I noticed first was the silence. It was just me again, Dale Ravenhall, and the other presence was gone. Was I dead?
He's awake.
I cringed involuntarily as the thought touched my mind. The other knew it immediately and hastened to reassure me. It's all right, Dale, it's all right. It's just me, Colleen. You remember me?
I swallowed hard and, timidly, reached out. Is that really you, Colleen?
It's really me. And Gordon and Calvin are here, too, if you feel like talking to them.
How're you feeling? Gordy asked.
Better, I answered. I was starting to wake up now, and memories were coming back. Where am I?
Sacramento, Calvin told me. They airlifted you there after you crashed your car. You were pretty lucky; minor injuries only.
Yeah. I was dreading the next question, but I had to ask it. What happened back there? How did I escape?