Deadrock Read Free Page A

searching their faces. "Some
of you old-timers must remember him!" he said, colliding into Max and
rejecting his young face. He took Leo aside, "A tall old guy…gray hair?"
he asked. Leo shrugged and shook his head.
    The Mayor
sighed. "I remember Great-Grandpa taking me for walks in Central Park, the
Zoo. If my real great-grandpa was dead inside that capsule then who was the guy taking me to the zoo? And all that paper
money! Where did that come from? Elaine, you've got to get this cleared up and
soon!"
    "We're
working on it," the Chief said, reaching his side. She took his arm in a
firm grip. "Come to my office and we'll assign the case right now."
    "We haven't
got time for a routine investigation. I've built my campaign on the importance
of family and Wollman will use this to destroy me! What about a Watcher?"
    The officers
buzzed in reaction to the word.
    "Absolutely
not!" barked the Chief. "We only go back in time in extreme cases.
The risks are too great – someone could change history!"
    "Now you
listen to me, Elaine," said the Mayor, shoving his face nose-to-nose with hers.
"If I lose to Wollman you'll see just how extreme a case this is. You'll
be out on the street and he'll have a group of philosophers in here debating
about crime instead of solving it." The Mayor jabbed his finger at the
scene outside the window. "Just look at that!"
    Outside, Green
Robes picketed the police station, shouting about police corruption and calling
for Mayor Rhoades to resign. The Chief ran her hand over her dark, glossy hair.
    "It's
going to be tough to get approval for a Watcher," she said.
    "Use their own words against them!" he said, gesturing to
the gilt-framed portrait hung over the door. The ancient man in the portrait
wore a somber, almost sinister expression above his long, green robe. The
caption of the photo read, "NO QUESTION UNANSWERED, NO CRIME UNSOLVED".
    "This is
a 'Question Unanswered' and certainly a 'Crime Unsolved'!" crowed the
Mayor.
    "I have
to see who's due for reassignment," she said, stroking her arm tattoo and
staring straight ahead as she mentally scanned her files.
    The officers
scrambled. O'Malley sidled past the Mayor and whispered in a confidential tone,
"I'd love to help you, Mayor, but I'm working on something right now. Of
national security…"
    Max pulled Leo
to the far side of the room. "Gnartz, I'd hate to get stuck with that
assignment," said Leo.
    "Can't
happen," said Max. "We've got our sting all lined up."
    "Well?"
demanded the Mayor. "Who's it going to be?"
    The Chief
planted her feet, folded her arms and met the Mayor's gaze. "In my office,"
she said. The Mayor hesitated, then offered her his
arm to escort her.
    "Let's
go, Leo. Just to be safe, I think we'd better duck out a little early today,"
whispered Max.
    "Out of
sight, out of mind," said Leo, slipping out the door.

 
    Late that
afternoon Max relaxed in the silence of his apartment. The colors flashed in
front of his eyes to the beat of his heart. He could hear his blood streaming
along its path. His arms and legs grew heavy and limp, and his head nodded
forward onto his chest. The theta waves started to kick in with their sudden
intensity of light and hue, indefinable colors blinking and shooting in the
boundless landscape behind his eyes. His cortex tingled with the overload of
thoughts jumping to be read and just as he was about to lean the secret of
life…the world butted in.
    "Door
buzzes and mindbeeps …" he grumbled. He yanked the
sensory wires from his neck and tossed the goggles onto the rathide sofa. Still
loose from the instant relaxation of the brainwave equalizer, he trudged his
way to the door of his apartment, past the hexagonal walls of mounted antique
rifles, and an enormous plush toy buffalo head, past the potted saguaro cactus
hung with lariats and cowboy hats, and under the feather headdress hanging from
the steel rafters. He opened the front door and let in the Chief.
    "I just
talked to Officer Ghantillam, our