'They're okay.'
'Good. You just get dressed now and I'll show you where we're going to work together.'
'Work?'
'In a manner of speaking. You're an unusual young man, Malcolm. I'm going to give you a few tests — oh, nothing that will hurt or anything like that — and see if we can find out what makes you so unusual.'
'I don't think I want to take tests.'
Pastory's little eyes glittered. 'I told you before, Malcolm, in this life it doesn't always matter what we want. Now will you get yourself dressed, or should I bring in somebody to do it for you?'
'I'll do it.'
'Good. That's the spirit I like.' The doctor went out. The door closed soundlessly behind him. There was a whispered click of the lock. Malcolm turned the knob just to be sure. It was locked all right.
He tried on some of the clothes from the bureau. Everything was a size or so too big, but not so much that it mattered. And it did feel good to be wearing real clothes again.
When he was dressed Malcolm sat down on the bed and waited.
In a few minutes Pastory came back in bringing a mug of some hot brown liquid. There was another man with him. The other man was big with a barrel chest and thick neck and bristly black hair. His lips were thick and set in a permanent sneer. He smelled bad. Malcolm recognized the smell from the morning he was taken from the hospital. Was it only this morning? Whatever they shot him up with had messed up his sense of time.
Pastory handed him the mug. 'Drink this. It's full of vitamins and other good things.'
Malcolm drank. It tasted like a heavy beef broth. Not too bad.
'Later on you can have solid food, but I think for now we'd better stick to liquids.'
'How long am I going to be here?'
'That depends.' He pulled the door all the way open. 'Come along now.'
'What are you going to do?'
Pastory dropped the fake pleasant expression he'd been wearing. 'I haven't time to explain every little thing to you. Kruger, bring him along.'
The big man grabbed Malcolm by the shoulder and dug his thumb into a nerve there.
'Hey!' the boy protested.
'The doctor wants you to come along.' Kruger had a high singsong voice that did not fit with his size. He pulled Malcolm to his feet and propelled him out of the door.
He was taken along a short hallway and into another room, larger than the one where he had awakened. A skylight in the ceiling made it very bright. There were shelves on the walls holding all manner of bottles, vials, beakers, and jars. Some of them contained liquids or powders, but others were empty. Along one side of the room was a counter with a stainless-steel sink and a little gas burner. There was a cluster of instruments and equipment that meant nothing to Malcolm all along the counter.
In the centre of the room was a high, narrow table, padded, with tough leather straps riveted to the sides. Under the table was a complicated system of gears so it could be tilted in any direction.
'This is a laboratory,' Malcolm said.
'Very good,' Pastory said, as though to an apt pupil. 'Would you like to jump up on the table there?'
'No.'
'I think, my boy, we had better understand how things are run around here. When I make a suggestion, it is not really a suggestion. It is an order. And when I give an order, you obey. That way we will all get along much better. Now get up on that table.'
Malcolm felt his face growing hot. His shoulder still hurt where Kruger had dug into the nerve. He walked to the table, turned around, and gave a little jump so he was sitting on it.
'That's the idea,' Pastory said. 'Now lie back, please.'
'What for?'
Pastory snapped his head at the big man who was standing by eagerly. 'Kruger!'
Before Malcolm knew what was happening, Kruger had pushed him down flat on his back and had buckled a strap around one of his wrists. He flailed out with his free hand.
'Cut it out!' he yelled.
Kruger drew back a massive arm and cracked the back of his hand against Malcolm's cheek. Malcolm tasted blood. His eyesight blurred for a moment and there seemed to be an edge of fire around everything. There was a strange growling sound in his ears, and Malcolm was surprised to realize it came from his own throat.
Pastory hurried over to the table. 'Did you see that? Wonderful! Get the other hand strapped down, Kruger. And his feet. Quickly!'
As the doctor peered down on him Malcolm's flash of anger drained away to be replaced by a numb feeling of hopelessness.
'There, he's changing back now,' Pastory said. 'But did you see it, Kruger? Did you see what happened to his face?'
'It looked funny there for a minute. Like his teeth were too big for his mouth, or something.'
'Or something!' Pastory repeated. He leaned very close to Malcolm, took his chin in one hand and turned his head this way and that. His breath had a minty smell.
'Are you all.right now, Malcolm?' he asked.
'I want to get up.'
'In time, my boy. In time. Tell me what you felt just then, when you tried to get at Kruger.'
'I–I was mad. He shouldn't have hit me.'
'No, you're quite right. I'll see that it doesn't happen again.'
Pastory walked back to the counter and began to write furiously in a hardbound notebook. He spoke more to himself than to the others in the room. 'It appears that anger triggers the change. I wonder if other powerful emotions will have the same effect. We will have to look into that.'
He returned to the table. 'Open your mouth, please.'
Malcolm hesitated.
'It's only a thermometer. See? All I want to do is take your temperature. Now open, please.'
Reluctantly Malcolm obeyed, and the doctor slipped the
glass tube expertly under his tongue. |
'I am going to take a sample of your blood now. A very small bit, Malcolm. You'll never miss it.'
The boy watched as Pastory inserted the hollow needle into a vein on the inside of his elbow and drew crimson fluid up into the cylinder.
'There now.' The doctor withdrew the needle and taped a wad of cotton over the tiny hole it left. He took the thermometer out of Malcolm's mouth and examined it. 'A touch above normal. Nothing to be concerned about.'
'Can I get up now?' Malcolm said.
'Very soon, my boy. There is just one more shot now; one that will relax you and make you feel good. Then we'll get you up and give you something to eat.'
Pastory gave him the needle in the shoulder, then backed away looking very pleased with himself. 'You just relax for a minute or so, Malcolm. I want to go and check some references. If you need anything just tell Kruger here. Okay?'
Malcolm rolled his head to look at the doctor but he did not answer. A heavy feeling was spreading through his body. He did not want to do much of anything.
As soon as Pastory went out and closed the door, Kruger came over and stared down into the boy's face. The man's heavy features were twisted in open hostility.
'You better not do anything like that to me again,' he said.
'Didn't do anything.' It was an effort for Malcolm to get the words out.
'You know what I'm talking about. That thing you did with your face and your teeth. I don't care what the doctor says. You better behave or I'll hurt you.'
The big man talked to him some more, but Malcolm floated off to a warm cosy place where the words made no sense.
After that, time had little meaning for Malcolm. He knew he was being measured and weighed, prodded and pricked, tested, retested, fed and purged. He did not care about any of it. Sometimes he would be left alone and
