were more like photo negatives, highlighting the heat levels in each frame. The biots looked eerie. Their eyes bulged out of their heads in the infrared pictures.
The instant the cell was dark, one of the Garcias grabbed Richard by the throat. The other three took off their gloves, exposing sharp, pointed fingers and knife-edged hands. Four of Archie’s powerful tentacles enwrapped the Garcia trying to strangle Richard. As the Garcia’s frame crumbled and the biot collapsed in a heap on the floor of the cell, the other three biots attacked Archie furiously. Richard tried to help in the battle. A Lincoln caught Archie’s neck with a savage blow from its hand and nearly decapitated the octospider. Richard screamed as he was drenched by Archie’s internal body fluid. With Archie out of the fight, the remaining biots devastated Richard, puncturing his body over and over with jabs from their fingers. He fell against the front of the cell and slipped down onto the floor. His blood and Archie’s, which were different colors in the infrared image, ran together and formed a pool on the floor of the cell.
The video continued, but Nicole was no longer seeing anything. Now, for the first time, she understood that her husband, Richard, the only really close friend she had ever had in her adult life, was actually dead. On the screen Franz led the sobbing Katie down the corridor and then the monitor went blank. Nicole did not move. She sat perfectly still, staring forward where the images had been just seconds before. There were no tears in her eyes, her body was not trembling, she seemed completely in control. Yet she could not move.
A low level of light came on in the viewing room. Dr. Blue was still sitting beside her. “I don’t think,” Nicole said slowly, surprised that her voice sounded so far away, “that I realized the first two times… I mean, I must have been in shock… maybe I still am.” She couldn’t continue. Nicole was having trouble breathing.
“You need a drink of water and some rest,” Dr. Blue said.
Richard has been killed. Richard is dead. “Yes, please,” Nicole said faintly. I will never see him again. I will never talk to him again. “Cold water, if you have any.” I saw him die. Once. Twice. Three times. Richard is dead.
There was another octospider in the viewing room. They were talking, but Nicole could not follow their colors. Richard is gone forever. I am alone. Dr. Blue held the water up to Nicole’s lips, but she could not drink. Richard has been killed. There was nothing but blackness.
Someone was holding her hand. It was a warm, pleasant hand, gently caressing hers. She opened her eyes.
“Hello, Mother,” Patrick said softly. “Are you feeling any better?”
Nicole closed her eyes again. Where am I? she thought. Then she remembered. Richard is dead. I must have fainted.
“Ummm,” she said.
“Would you like some water?” Patrick asked.
“Yes, please,” she whispered. Her voice sounded strange.
Nicole tried to sit up and drink the water. She could not make it.
“Take it easy,” Patrick said. “There’s no hurry.”
Her mind began to work. I must tell them that Richard and Archie are dead. The helicopters are coming. We must be very careful and protect the children. “Richard,” she managed to say.
“We know, Mother,” Patrick replied.
How do they know? Nicole thought. I’m the only one left here who can read colors.
“The octospiders went to a lot of trouble to write everything down. It wasn’t perfect English, but we certainly understood what they were telling us. They told us about the war too.”
Good, Nicole thought. They know, I can sleep. From somewhere in her head there was still an echo. Richard is dead.
“From time to time I can hear the bombs, but as far as I can tell none of them yet has hit the dome.” It was Max’s voice. “Maybe they haven’t figured out where the city is.”
“It would be completely dark from the outside,” Patrick said. “They have thickened the canopy and there are no lights on the streets.”
“The bombs must be hitting the Alternate Domain. There would be no way the octos could hide its existence,” Max said.
“What are the octospiders doing?” Patrick asked. “Do we even know if they’re counterattacking?”
“Not for certain,” Max replied, “but I can’t believe they’re still sitting around doing nothing.”
Nicole heard soft footsteps in the hallway. “The boys are really developing a bad case of cabin fever,” Nai said. “Do you think it would be all right if I let them play outside? The all-clear flares were half an hour ago.”
“I don’t see why not,” Patrick said. “But tell them to come in if they see a flare or hear any bombs.”
“I’ll be out there with them,” Nai said.
“What’s my wife doing?” Max asked.
“Reading with Benjy,” Nai replied. “Marius is asleep.”
“Why don’t you ask her to come over for a few minutes?”
Nicole rolled over on her other side. She thought about trying to sit up, but she felt so tired. She began daydreaming, remembering her childhood. What does it take to be a princess? little Nicole asked her father. Either a king for a father, or a prince for a husband, he answered. He smiled and kissed her. Then I’m already a princess, she told him. For you ‘re a king to me…
“How is Nicole?” Eponine asked.
“She stirred again this morning,” Patrick replied. “Dr. Blue’s note said that she may be able to sit up tonight or tomorrow. It also said they have verified that the attack was not severe, that the heart was not permanently damaged, and that she is responding well to the treatment.”
“Can I see her now?” Benjy asked.
“No, Benjy, not yet,” said Eponine, “she’s still resting.”
“The octospiders have really been great, haven’t they?” Patrick said. “Even in the middle of this war, they have taken time to write us such complete messages.”
“They’ve even made a believer out of me,” Max said. “And I never thought that was possible.”
So I had a heart attack, Nicole thought. I didn’t just collapse because Richard… she could not complete the sentence at first. Because he is gone.
She drifted in the twilight zone between waking and sleeping until she heard a familiar voice calling her name. Is that you, Richard? Nicole said excitedly. Yes, Nicole, he answered. Where are you? I want to see you, she said, and his face appeared in a cloud in the middle of her dream screen. You look great, she said, are you all right? Yes, Richard answered, but I must talk to you.
What is it, darling? Nicole asked. You must go on without me, he said. You must set an example for the others. His face began to alter as the shapes of the clouds changed. Of course, Nicole said, but where are you going? She could not see him anymore. Good-bye, his voice said. Good-bye, Richard, Nicole answered.
When she woke up the next time, her mind was clear. Nicole sat up in bed and looked around her. It was dark, but she could tell she was in her own room in the house in the Emerald City.
Nicole could hear no sounds. She assumed it was night. She pushed off the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. So far, so good, she thought. Nicole eased herself off the bed and stood up very slowly. Her legs were wobbly.
There was a glass of juice on the end table beside the bed. Nicole took two cautious steps, holding on to the bed with her right hand, and picked up the glass. The juice was delicious. Pleased with herself, Nicole started toward the closet to find some clothes. She became woozy after a few steps, however, and headed back toward the bed.
“Mother,” she heard Patrick say, “is that you?” She could see his silhouette in the doorway.
“Yes, Patrick,” she answered.
“Here,” he said, “why don’t we have some light?” He knocked on the wall and a firefly flew into the middle of the room. “Goodness,” he said, “what are you doing up?”
“I can’t stay in bed forever,” Nicole answered.
“But you should take it easy at first,” Patrick said, coming over beside her and helping her the rest of the way to bed.
She grabbed his arm. “Listen to me, son,” Nicole said. “I have no intention of being an invalid, nor do I want to be treated like one. I expect to be my old self in a few days, a week at the most.”
