Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 79

                ‘What’s in the case?’ Elle asks, peering over my shoulder.

                ‘A few things,’ I explain. ‘I think finding out what’s happened to the Starbright Man should be relatively easy, I already have a theory.’

                ‘Would you care to enlighten me?’ Elle says. ‘Fear not, I’m nought but thoughts these days, I should understand.’

                ‘I think he’s caught himself between a living state and a dying state,’ I reply. ‘The fact that we can exist in two different states on earth means we’re partly made of the same stuff, just altered in some way. If he’s tried to change his molecular structure, then he may have split all the atoms in his body. If we don’t stop him then we may find more of a mess than comic books on the floor.’

                Elle’s eyes widen. ‘And you didn’t feel it necessary to tell me that we’re being followed by an atom bomb?’

                ‘I was going to tell you,’ I plead.

                ‘Before or after the nuclear apocalypse?’

                ‘Sometime during maybe?’ I smile, appealing to her nature. ‘Come on, we can’t change what he’s done, but we can put it right.’

                ‘On future mysteries,’ she says, crouching beside me, ‘I’d like to be consulted on all things nuclear related.’

                ‘Noted,’ I say, extracting what looks like a tape recorder from the box. It’s small, black, with what looks like a spiral telephone chord extending out the side with a microphone at the end.

                ‘That’s a Geiger counter,’ Elle says. ‘Don’t look surprised, science boy. I have boobs and a brain, you know.’

                Graham looks up from the floor. ‘I know what you’re doing,’ he croaks. ‘You’ll need the EMF won’t you.’

                He doesn’t wait for a reply. As I start waving the Geiger counter around the room, he starts to search through the other boxes under the desk. The device in my hands starts to click violently, the display on the front showing traces of radioactive activity.

                ‘That’s not dangerous is it?’ Elle asks, watching.

                ‘Not in such small amounts,’ I reply. ‘And not to us.’

                ‘Yeah, I was thinking more about the rest of the planet.’

                Graham’s found another device and stands, fiddling with it. ‘Okay, this baby’s ready to fly.’

                ‘Don’t ask,’ I say, as Elle opens her mouth.

                Graham’s device emits a click and he starts moving it around the room, slowly. As he gets close to us he gasps. ‘Is that you?’ he asks. I reach out to touch his arm, giving him a shudder of confirmation.