Stone Junction

‘Yes, though it’s a bit like saying the ocean is water. The diamond is perfectly spherical, perfectly clear – though it seems to glow – and it’s about two-thirds the size of a bowling ball. I think of it as the Diamond. Capital D.’

‘Who owns it?’

‘No one. The United States government has it at the moment. We want it. And to be honest with you, Daniel, I particularly want it, want it dearly. I want to look at it, into it, hold it in my hands. I had a vision involving a spherical diamond, a vision that changed my life, and I want to confirm that it was a vision of something real, the spirit embodied, the circuit complete.’

Daniel was smiling. ‘You’re going to love this. That dream I wanted to talk to you about, my first since the explosion? It just happened to feature a raven with a spherical diamond in its beak. Obviously, it wasn’t as big as a bowling ball, and there was a thin spiral flame running edge to edge through its center, which made it seem more coldly brilliant than warmly glowing, but it sounds like the same basic diamond to me.’

‘And what do you think it is?’

‘I think it’s beautiful.’

Volta gave him a thin smile. ‘If I were more perverse than I already lamentably am, I would say it is the Eye of the Beholder. In fact, I don’t know what it is.’

‘It might be a dream,’ Daniel said.

‘Very possibly,’ Volta agreed, ‘but I don’t think so. I think – feel, to be exact – that the Diamond is an interior force given exterior density, the transfigured metaphor of the prima materia, the primordial mass, the Spiritus Mundi. I’m assuming you’re familiar with the widely held supposition that the entire universe was created from a tiny ball of dense matter which exploded, sending pieces hurtling into space, expanding from the center. The spherical diamond is the memory, the echo, the ghost of that generative cataclysm; the emblematic point of origin. Or if, as some astrophysicists believe, the universe will reach some entropic point in its expansion and begin to collapse back into itself, in that case the Diamond may be a homing point, the seed crystal, to which it will all come hurtling back together – and perhaps through itself, into another dimension entirely. Or it might be the literal Philosopher’s Stone we alchemists speak of so fondly. Or I might be completely wrong. That’s why I want to see it. If I could actually stand in its presence, I’m convinced I’d know what it is. I would even venture to say, at the risk of rabid projection, that it wants to be seen and known.’

‘But you’re not even sure it exists,’ Daniel said. ‘Right? And hey, it’s tough to steal something that doesn’t exist, even if you can be invisible. The more I think about this the less sense it makes.’

‘Then think about this: Two days ago, Navy divers searching for the wreck of the Moray – you might recall it was a nuclear submarine that vanished without a trace in 1972 – found a mysterious object on the ocean floor exactly on the Greenwich Meridian. According to our information, the object appears to be a spherical diamond that “glows” – whatever that means. It has been taken to a government lab for tests and observation. We’re not sure where it is at the moment; there are rumors it’s being moved. That’s what Jean was called away to work on, as well as Smiling Jack and some of our other best people. Including you, I hope.’

‘And you really think I might be able to do it? Actually vanish?’

‘I think you’re the most likely candidate I’ve ever known.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘A number of reasons, but essentially because you want to vanish.’

‘I do?’

‘I think so, yes. But what concerns me is that I’m not certain you will want to come back.’

‘Suppose I don’t. Or can’t. What happens to me then?’

‘I don’t know, but I suspect you might truly discover what lost means. Not confused, or disoriented, or displaced. Lost.’

‘Is that a challenge?’

‘It challenged me.’

‘Is that why you quit?’

‘Yes, one could say that.’

‘What did you steal when you were invisible?’

‘Nothing. I used the ability to perform escapes in my magic act.’

‘Sounds like magic to me, all right.’

Volta said emphatically, ‘It’s not. Vanishing is a tool, a technique, another manipulation of appearance. Magic is the expropriation of the real.’

‘Well, hell, let’s get started. I can’t wait to see if I can vanish into nonexistence and magically expropriate a reality you dreamed.’

‘You’ve forgotten your dream; you might have to battle that raven for the Diamond.’

‘I suppose I’ll find out. Are we going to start soon?’

‘Early tomorrow morning. Meet me at the Oakland airport at midnight, Pacific time. You can pick up your tickets and itinerary at the Gilded Lily Pawn Shop at the top of President Street. You’ll be leaving this afternoon. I have some business, so I’ll be taking a later flight. We’ll meet at Gate Seven and then catch a private flight north to the Eel River, and from there to my place. We’ll get started after breakfast.’

‘That’s not much sleep,’ Daniel noted.