“What do you want from me?” Jeff repeated. His hands were balling into fists.
“I want you by my side. Come back to me.”
“And if I don’t want to?” Jeff asked angrily.
Another chuckle—this time quieter.
“There’s someone here who wants to see you again,” the voice said. “Describe the situation, my dear.”
Jeff’s stomach contracted. He knew whom the demon was referring to. He had forgotten about Joanne. He’d run off in such a panic, he’d left her behind in the clutches of the demon.
“Jeff!” She sounded desperate. “I’m lying on the ground, I’m tied up. Green is leaning over me and holding a knife to my stomach.”
“Come back to us, Jeff,” Green said in a sickly sweet voice. “Or I’ll cut open your little friend’s stomach and describe what I’m taking out of it.” He cackled. “That is, if you can hear me through all the screaming.”
Jeff felt the blood draining from his face. He couldn’t bear that. He looked down at his pistol again and considered turning it on himself. But what would become of Joanne? She, along with his father, would still be at the mercy of the demon.
“Shit! Damn it!” Jeff punched the wall.
“Now, now,” Green’s too soothing voice came through the loudspeaker.
Jeff clenched his teeth. There must be something he could do!
The pistol…
He breathed deeply in and out. He wasn’t sure whether it would work. Above all, it would probably mean killing the real Green—if his spirit was still somewhere inside his body. But it was probably too late to save him, in any case. “OK. I’m coming.”
He retreated from the warehouse and stepped back into the corridor. It took him only a few minutes to get back to the antechamber.”
He could see Green some distance away, standing next to the entrance to the central hemisphere.
“Where’s Joanne?” Jeff asked.
Green tilted his head to one side and smiled. “She’s already gone ahead.” He pointed at the door next to him. “After you.”
“You’re really letting me into the innermost… sanctum?”
Green nodded. “Why not? There’s nothing you can do to me there. You can’t harm me. And anyhow, it’s necessary.”
Jeff didn’t even bother asking why. He didn’t want to go in, but he had to convince himself that Joanne was really there.
“After you,” Jeff said.
Green shrugged and turned around. “If you insist.” The door opened with a hiss and Green stepped through. Jeff followed him, although every cell in his body was urging him to go the other way.
Once inside, Jeff was reminded of holograms he’d seen of the Pantheon in Rome on Earth. A huge dome with a small hole at the very top. Along the walls were console-like instruments, but they were all unlit and did not seem to be in operation. There were no other doors. The only way in or out was through the door they had come. In the middle of the room was a round pillar. It had a diameter of several feet and was almost twice as tall as Jeff. A reddish ray of light slanted from the hole in the ceiling, illuminating the pillar like a surreal altar.
Joanne was lying on the floor a few feet away from him. Jeff hurried over and knelt beside her. He could see her chest rising and falling. She was alive, but unconscious.
“There’s your girlfriend. She’s doing well,” Green said with a sneer. He was standing right behind Jeff.
Now or never!
With a fluid motion, Jeff rose to his feet and at the same time pulled the pistol out of his holster, spun round, and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet entered Green’s forehead and exited out of the back of his head. In an explosion of red, it tore out bits of skull, brain, and blood with it.
Green’s expression froze in disbelief and surprise. He staggered, but somehow remained on his feet. Then his face twisted into a nasty grin again. A thick trail of blood ran down his cheek from the wound on his forehead. He began to laugh again—and fell forward. He landed on the floor with a thud and fell silent.
“Bastard!”
Loud, inhuman laughter sounded from hidden loudspeakers that echoed around the room. Jeff knew he hadn’t killed the demon, but maybe it would buy him some time. He ran along the edge of the room. That button the alien had told him about—it must be here somewhere.
But Jeff hadn’t gone far when he heard the door hissing behind him. He spun round, clenching his hands. Who would enter the room now?
Or what?
It was Green. He stood in front of the door until it closed behind him, then made a histrionic gesture with his arms like an over-enthusiastic entertainer. “I told you—you can’t do me any harm here.”
“Green was just an avatar,” Jeff said dryly. “Since when?”
The demon grinned. “Oh, not long. If you hadn’t run off in a panic, your plan might have worked.” He cocked his head. “Or perhaps not. But then there would have been other ways and means. In any case, you won’t be leaving here.”
That was no surprise. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you doing this?”
Green grimaced and rolled his eyes. “Because it’s fun. Especially with you humans. You make such funny noises when you’re in pain.”
“You’re sick!” Jeff shouted.
Green shook his head slowly. “No I’m not. I’m God.” He paused a moment. “Or rather the other one. You know who.” He chuckled. “A very interesting concept, by the way, your hell. A place of eternal torment and punishment—I was delighted to hear of it when you humans came on board. I redecorated the cavitys especially!”
“You destroyed inhabited planets!”
Green nodded. “I found some bombs aboard a damaged ship and wanted to give them a try. You certainly like playing at war. In fact, there isn’t such a big difference between you homo sapiens and me. And I certainly had a lot of fun destroying your worlds after I’d taken several thousands of their inhabitants on board.”
“How did you even get them onto your ship?” Jeff asked, his throat completely dry.
“Teleportation, of course.”
Jeff swallowed. Humanity had been trying to master that technology for centuries—but in vain. “Teleportation?”
Green laughed. “What did you think? That billions of passengers were bought on board with ferries? That would have taken decades. No, the individuals were captured on their respective planets, teleported, and immediately rematerialized in the cryopods.”
Jeff shuddered.
One moment you might be walking down the street, the next moment you would be in this simulation of hell on the black ship. No wonder the people thought they had been killed in a surprise attack.
“Why didn’t you beam us straight into the cryopods when we turned up?”
Green shrugged. “I happened to be busy with a—shall we say, interesting—game in hell, and only noticed your presence rather late. What’s more, the teleportation process is rather time-consuming; the field projectors have to be prepared first.”
“You could have teleported us straight from our cabin to those pods.”
Green laughed. “You’re right, that would have been very convenient. But no. Because of the large projector surfaces, matter can only be brought aboard from a certain distance. There’s no other way, unfortunately.”
Jeff took a deep breath. “And what do you want from me now?”
“I want to show you something. Come with me.”
The demon turned around and strutted across the room toward a console. Jeff followed him at a distance of several feet.
When Green reached the console, he flipped a switch and a small door slid opened. Behind it was a compartment the size of a microwave oven, illuminated by a yellow light. “This is a universal analyzer. It scans everything you present it with, atom by atom, and transfers it as a model to the computer.”