The Deep Sea Diver's Syndrome Read Free Page B

shop at any cost; that was how things worked. If he woke up before he got away, he’d lose the haul and surface empty-handed. Violent blows shook the shop window behind him. He turned, nervous: it was Nadia, slamming the armored glass with both fists to get his attention. “I can’t get out!” he yelled, exaggerating the words so she could read his lips. “I lost the eye and the hand.” Nadia puckered up, blew mist on the glass, and began writing something backwards. It was slow going, andshe messed up a few letters, but soon David could make it out:
Doesn’t matter for you now. Dream breaking up. You can make it through. More solid than me
.
    Instinctively, David felt himself with his hands. She was right. Dreamers were always denser than the dream worlds they moved through. The difference was negligible when the dream was in full swing, but useful once things started falling apart.
    “You can make it through!” Nadia was yelling on the other side. “You’re more solid than the glass! C’mon!”
    David started backing up to throw himself through the pane, but the fear of hurting himself stopped him cold. For a moment he had a vision of glass shards shredding his face, severing his carotid. No, he wouldn’t make it; the shattered window’s razor-sharp fragments would rip his throat open. He—
    The howl of the alarm made him start. He realized the jeweler’s hand must have set it off, just pressed a button hidden in a drawer, sending a signal straight to the nearest precinct. The alarm wailed like a cow being tortured … or a ship heading out to sea. David shut his eyes. He could smell the sea again, his feet were in the sand, and his hands were clutching pebbles … 
No! Dammit! Not pebbles: uncut stones! Raw diamonds!
    Nadia’s frenzied blows brought him to his senses. Her pale face was gleaming with sweat, and a lock of red hair fallen free from her cap streaked her forehead like blood. David backed up, gauging the window’s solidity, the door’s steel frame. At first glance it all seemed terribly solid, capable of withstanding even a truck at full speed without cracking. But that was just an illusion; he was much too close to the surface now for the dream world tostand up to the materiality of the dreamer. All he needed was a little speed and the glass would crack like the safe had just now … but what about the consistency pills? Wouldn’t they help reinforce the density of the armored glass? In which case he was running smack into disaster. Nadia was still shouting, but he couldn’t hear her anymore. The din of the alarm filled his ears. From sheer nerves, he kicked a sofa, which pulled back like a jellyfish. The jewels on display had an oily gleam, the pearls seemed to be melting like dabs of butter in the sun. He could afford to wait no longer. Clutching the bags of jewels to his chest, David tensed his muscles and dove headfirst through the glass, flying right over the display. In real life, he’d never have been able to pull off a stunt like that without winding up in traction, but in dreams his body rarely betrayed him. It was a well-oiled machine, ever faithful and reliable. Or almost …
    The armored glass exploded the moment his skull hit it. The shards weren’t sharp at all, and showered soundlessly onto the sidewalk. David rolled to a stop at Nadia’s feet, his hair covered in crystalline dust. He spat out a few pieces of glass, noticing they left a minty aftertaste—maybe because of the greenish tint?
    Nadia helped him back to his feet and dragged him toward the car. He barely felt her hand on his biceps. He wondered if the vehicle would bear his weight, or if he’d find himself sitting in the street. With the change in density, you had to be ready for anything.
    “You’re slow,” Nadia groaned. “Did you take all your pills?”
    “Yes,” he confessed, getting gingerly into shotgun.
    Nadia always took the wheel when it was time for the getaway.As a diver steadily