Джеймс Фрей – Sky Key (страница 6)
“W-w-w-where—”
The tremors haven’t been this bad since Chiyoko left him in bed that night. His head whips back and forth and his legs shake and shake.
“Twitchy lad,” the man says, stepping around to the side of the gurney. “You wanna know where your girlfriend is, that it?”
“Y-y-y-y-y—”
An is stuck on the sound. He keeps saying it, his mind and mouth on a loop.
“Y-y-y-y-y-y-y—”
The man places a hand on An’s arm. The hand is warm. The man is skinnier than An expected. His hands are too big for his body.
“I have questions too. But we can’t talk until you’ve gotten ahold of yourself.” The man turns away. He picks up a syringe from a nearby tray. An catches a glimpse of the label: serum #591566. “Try to breathe easy, lad.” The man pulls up An’s sleeve on his left arm. “It’s just a pinch.”
No!
No!
“Breathe easy now.”
An convulses. He feels whatever he’s being injected with move through his arm, into his heart, his neck, his head. The pain disappears. Cool darkness washes into An’s brain, like the waves outside, gently rocking the ship back and forth, back and forth. An feels the drug pull him beneath the surface, down into the dark ocean. He’s suspended. Weightless. He doesn’t
“Can you speak?” The man’s voice echoes as if it is in An’s mind.
“Y-yes,” An says without much effort.
“Good. You can call me Charlie. What’s your name, lad?”
An opens his eyes. His sight is fuzzy around the edges, but his senses are strangely acute. He can feel every centimeter of his body. “My name is An Liang,” he says.
“No, it’s not. What’s your name?”
An tries to turn his head but can’t. He’s been restrained further. A strap across his forehead? Or is this the drug?
“Chang Liu,” he tries again.
“No, it’s not. One more lie and I won’t tell you anything about Chiyoko. That’s a promise.”
An begins to speak but the man claps one of his big hands over An’s mouth. “I mean it. Lie to me one more time and we’re done. No more Chiyoko, no more you. Do you understand?”
Since An can’t move his head at all, can’t nod, he widens his eyes. Yes, he understands.
“Good lad. Now, what’s your name?”
“An Liu.”
“Better. How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Where are you from?”
“China.”
“No shit. Where in China?”
“Many places. Xi’an was last home.”
“Why were you at Stonehenge?”
An feels a tickle in his ear. A scratching noise close by.
“To help Chiyoko,” he says.
“Tell me about Chiyoko. What was her last name?”
“Takeda. She was the Mu.”
A pause. “The Mu?”
“Yes.”
“What is a Mu?”
“Not sure. Old people. Older than old.”
An hears the
An hears a tinny voice over an earpiece. Someone else is watching and listening. Giving Charlie with the big hands and wrinkled forehead instructions.
“What you inject in me?” An asks.
“Top-secret serum, lad. I tell you more than that and I have to kill you. It’s not your turn to ask questions yet. I’ll let you ask yours after you answer a few more of mine, deal?”
“Yes.”
“What were you helping Chiyoko with at Stonehenge?”
“Get Earth Key.”
“What’s Earth Key?”
“Piece of puzzle.”
“What kind of puzzle?”
“Endgame puzzle.”
“What’s Endgame?”
“A game for end of time.”
“And you’re playing it?”
“Yes.”
“Chiyoko was too?”
“Yes.”
“She was Mu?”
“Yes.”
“What are you?”
“Shang.”
“What is Shang?”
“Shang was father of my people. Shang are my people. Shang is me. I am Shang. I hate Shang.”
Charlie pauses, writes something on a pad that An can’t see. “What does Earth Key do?”