Biowar

but, from Marie Telach.

“Did you know him well, Charlie?”

“Once,” he’d told her.

Once.

Was it a lie? The James Kegan he knew was a bit — what was the word — patronizing toward the people who lived in the town around him.

These people didn’t really know Keys. They certainly didn’t know Dr. Kegan. But what they did know was important to them.

And the same with Dean. Keys had a hell of a jump shot once. And he was a great guy to talk to late at night, when the summer was just starting to cool down. You could talk about anything — women especially. Keys was the one person whom you could talk about love with and not feel goofy or embarrassed or part of a Hallmark ad.

It must have killed him all along. All along. Yet he’d never admitted it all.

You really didn’t know me at all, did you, Charlie Dean?

No, he thought. But he did know some things. And he’d been right in the end.

So he’d known the most important thing. At least to him.

“And now, for a few words on our friend when he was a young man,” said the minister, taking over, “I’d like to call up Charlie Dean.”

Dean got up and walked slowly to the front. The first words stuck in his throat.

You really didn’t know me, but you were a good friend anyway.

“Jimmy Keys — that’s what we called him,” managed Dean. “He had the sweetest jump shot you ever saw.”

STEPHEN COONTS

As a naval aviator STEPHEN COONTS flew combat missions during the Vietnam War. A former attorney and the author of thirteen New York Times bestselling novels, he resides with his wife and son in Nevada. He maintains a Web site at www.coonts.com.

Deep Black co-author JIM DEFELICE’S most recent solo effort is Cyclops One. He lives in upstate New York.