
- •It's a dream, he told himself. If you keep telling yourself that, you'll be able to operate.
- •It was useless, of course. Even more useless, he was waving his arms in big go-away gestures.
- •Interdiction? Interdiction? What kind of Fedspeak was that?
- •Xxxx70yyyy
- •Very low, Rose said: 'Barbie, you're scaring me.'
- •I'll have to Xerox the paper. Wliich means seven hundred and fifty copies, max.
- •Xet me finish. Your side of 119 is totally fubar.That means—'
- •It wasn't much, but Barbie was encouraged. 'Stand easy, tellas; stand easy and let's talk this over.'
- •I'm a little scared.
- •In the other bed Judy stirred and spoke. 'Mumma? Is it brefkus? Did I miss the bus?'
- •If it was petit mal, it would stop on its own.
- •In a moment she still wasn't completely there, although her eyes shifted and he knew she was seeing and hearing him now. 'Stop Halloween, Daddy! You have to stop Halloween!'
- •It was time for a demonstration, which he of course would lead.
- •I must see you tonight. God has spoken to me. Now I must speak to you before I speak to the town. Please reply. Richie Killian will carry your message to me.
- •I knew all that high school shotputting would catch up with me someday, he thought.
- •It's all those r-rated movies they watch now, Big Jim thought. Rubbing
- •It was the boy who answered. He spoke while still examining the headlamp. 'I want my mother. And I want my breffus.'
- •It was a bathroom, and it 'was empty. There was, however, a picture of a very Caucasian Jesus on the wall.
- •In Washington, Colonel Cox said:'Roger that, Major. Good luck. Blast the bastard.'
- •Interesting.
- •I like it because it is bitter, she thought. And because it is my heart.
- •Instead of answering the question, Barbie said,'Selectman Rennie could be a dangerous man to press right about now.'
- •It was exactly what she t'ought, and Julia had told him so. She had also planted a kiss on his cheek. 'I owe you for this, Rommie.'
- •It's because he scares you a little, he thought. That's all it is.
- •It's one possibility. It's also possible that some earthly supervillain set it up. A real-world Lex Luthor. Or it could be the work of a renegade country, like North Korea.'
- •It was entirely possible he was the last thing on Brenda's mind, but his radar was pinging and he watched her closely.
- •I'll get up in a minute, she told herself. Get the last bottle of Poland Spring out of the fridge and wash that foul taste out of my mou…
- •II have no idea what you're talking about. I think your grief…' He sighed, spread his blunt-fingered hands.'Come inside.We'll discuss this and I'll set your mind at rest.'
- •It was impossible for Boxer to draw himself up any further, and yet somehow he did. His face was so red it was almost purple. 'Then take me to court! What court? Case closed! Ha!'
- •3 P.M. Julia—
- •If the Dome wasn't bad enough, weird enough, there's the Selectman from Hell.
- •If he was in the storage building, though… that might be a problem.
- •It was a lot to think about, and thinking was easier these days when he was smoked up.
- •In the background she heard the swish of a car, and Benny, faint but clear, hailing someone: 'Dr Rusty! Yo, dude, whoa!'
- •It was Ginny Tomlinson, walking slowly up the hallway toward them.
- •INever mind. I'll be back as soon as I can, Hari. Keep 'em flying.'
- •It isn't a migraine making him do that. At least not any migraine I ever heard of.
- •It all seemed so long ago.
- •If was. She slipped in, a pale and limping ghost.
- •I'm all right. It's just overwork. Nothing seven hours of sleep won't cure.
- •I no longer want this job. No. Not even a little bit.
- •I have gone to the hospital. There has been a shooting there.
- •It had to begin with letting Barbie know he wasn't alone. Then he could plan his own actions accordingly.
- •If you were here, Colonel Cox, I'd give you a taste of what I gave Coggins. With God as my witness, I would.
- •It: was a joke.
- •Isn 't it more likely that the counter's malfunctioning? You could be giving yourself a lethal dose of gamma rays at this very second. The damn thing's a cold war relic.
- •Instead he approached the box again and dropped to his knees before it, a posture too much like worship for his liking.
- •I 'Oh my goodness, Ginny's in love,' Rusty said, grinning.
- •It was true. Andi was still pale, and much too thin, but the dark circles under her eyes had faded a little, and the eyes themselves had a new spark. 'Thanks for saying so.'
- •It now read c fee and doare ot free.
- •It took a moment for Carter to get it. 'She was just having a bunch of dope-ass hallucinations, wasn't she?'
- •I follow it.'
- •It was Chief Randolph, trudging up the hill and mopping his bright red face with a handkerchief.
- •If he sees us, I'm going to run him down, she thought. The idea brought a certain perverse calm.
- •It's an eighth of a mile at most, but Henry doesn't argue. 'Put her in the front seat of my car.'
- •I'm not your son, your son is dead. Carter thought… but didn't say. He went into the bunkrooni to see if there were any candybars on the shelves in there.
- •I'm crazy, he thought. It can't be. No one could have lived through that firestorm.
- •I pushed the wrong button, that's all.
- •It was almost as dark in the ruins of the Town Hall conference room as in the shelter, but with one big difference: the air was worthless.
- •I did. On purpose. Who the hell wants to turn forty? What is it?'
- •II hear you. Give it your best shot.'
- •I don't know, Barbie thought. J don't know what's happening.
- •Very young; barely out of the nursery, in fact. It speaks.
If you were here, Colonel Cox, I'd give you a taste of what I gave Coggins. With God as my witness, I would.
'Rennie?'
Tm here.* He paused. 'And you're there.* Another pause. 'And the Dome isn't coming down. I think we both know that. Drop the biggest A-bomb you've got on it, render the surrounding towns uninhabitable for two hundred years, kill everybody in Chester's Mill with the radiation if the radiation goes through, and still it won't come down.' He was breathing fast now, but his heart was beating strong and steady in his chest. 'Because the Dome is God's will.'
Which was, in his deepest heart, what he believed. As he believed it was God's will that he take this town and carry it through the weeks, months, and years ahead.
' What?
'You heard me.' Knowing he was wagering everything, his entire future, on the continued existence of the Dome. Knowing some people would think he was crazy for doing so. Also knowing those people were unbelieving heathens. Like Colonel James O. Cotton-Picker Cox.
'Rennie, be reasonable. Please.'
Big Jim liked that please; it brought his good humor back in a rush. 'Let's recap, shall we, Colonel Cox? Andy Sanders is in charge here, not me. Although I appreciate the courtesy call from such a high mucky-muck as yourself, naturally. And while I'm sure Andy will appreciate your offer to manage things—by remote control, as it were—I think I can speak for him when I say you can take your offer and tuck it away where the sun doesn't shine. We're on our own in here, and we're going to handle it on our own.'
'You're crazy,' Cox said wonderingly.
'So unbelievers always call the religious. It's their final defense against faith. We're used to it, and I don't hold it against you.' This was a lie. 'May I ask a question?'
'Go on.'
'Are you going to cut off our phones and computers?'
'You'd sort of like that, wouldn't you?'
'Of course not.' Another lie.
'The phones and Internet stay. So does the press conference on Friday. At which you'll be asked some difficult questions, I assure you.'
'I won't be attending any press conferences in the foreseeable future, Colonel. Neither will Andy. And Mrs Grinnell wouldn't make much sense, poor thing. So you can just cancel your—'
'Oh, no. Not at all.'Was that a smile in Cox's voice? 'The press conference will be held at noon on Friday, in plenty of time to sell lots of hemorrhoid cream on the evening news.'
'And who do you expect will be attending from our town?'
'Everyone, Rennie. Absolutely everyone. Because we're going to allow their relatives to come to the Dome at the Motton town line—site of the airplane crash in which Mr Sanders's wife died, you may remember. The press will be there to record the whole thing. It's going to be like visiting day at the state prison, only no one's guilty of anything. Except maybe you.'
Rennie was infuriated all over again. 'You can't do that!'
'Oh, but I can.' The smile was there. 'You can sit on your side of the Dome and thumb your nose at me; I can sit on mine and do the same. The visitors will be lined up, and as many as will agree to do so will be wearing tee-shirts reading DALE BARBARA IS INNOCENT and FREE DALE BARBARA and IMPEACH JAMES RENNIE. There will be tearful reunions, hands pressing against hands with the Dome in between, maybe even attempts to kiss. It: will make excellent TV footage, and it will make excellent propaganda. Most of all, it's going to make people in your town wonder what they're doing with an incompetent like you at the controls.'
Big Jim's voice descended to a thick growl. 'I won't allow it.'
'How are you going to stop it? Over a thousand people. You couldn't shoot them all.' When he spoke again, his voice was calm and reasonable. 'Come on, Selectman, let's work this out.You can still come out of it clean. You only need to let go of the controls.'
Big Jim saw Junior drifting down the hall toward the front door like a ghost, still wearing his pajama pants and slippers, and barely noticed. Junior could have dropped dead in the hallway and Big Jim would have remained hunched over his desk, the gold baseball clutched in one hand and the telephone in the other. One thought beat in his head: putting Andrea Grinnell in charge, with Officer Tiddies as her second.