L.A. Mental (23 page)
Authors: Neil Mcmahon
“Then they called me a fool,” I muttered. “Being crazy doesn't feel too bad, at least so far. But I sure hate being stupid.”
She gave my ear a sharp little nip with her teeth. “What they told you was that
I'm
your eyes that see. You fool.”
“You really think it
was
the Gatekeepers?”
“Yes.”
“You're not just saying that because you really do think I'm nuts?”
“If you start getting messages like the alien spaceship is coming to pick us up at midnight, or like religious people who say
everybody
better believe this or else, then I'll start getting nervous,” Lisa said. “But let's face itâGunnar did something to our brains that we don't have a clue about. What he told me about opening up new channelsâit happened with me, so why not you?”
The jury was going to stay out for a while about that. On the one hand, my rational mind still assured me it was a psychotic episode. On the other, if I accepted that it was real, I'd sure have plenty of companyâprobably most people believed in otherworldly powers, and many, that they'd had some form of contact with them.
But this had a stunning implication that set it apart.
Gunnar Kelso had destroyed his own credibility by sinking to the level of sordid deceit and manipulationâno doubt under the guiding influence of Cynthia Trask.
And yet,
had
he succeeded, at least to some extent, in what he claimedâbuilding a bridge by means of science to the realm of mysticism? Discovering the dynamics of a hidden energy system that would someday be recognized, just as the invisible workings of atoms, microbes, forces like gravity and magnetism had come to light in the past? Proving the existence of other intelligent life in the universe, but not in a distant galaxyâin another dimension that intermingled with ours?
There is still truth in what I've said, Tom
.
“So what are you thinking?” Lisa said.
“That all this scares the shit out of me.”
“Well,
yeah
. But we
are
in it, like it or not. AndâI know I'll be sorry I said thisâin a way, it's exciting.”
I rolled over onto my back again, this time pulling her across my chest. She made a little
umph
sound like she was slightly surprised, but she didn't seem displeased.
“Okay, here's my from-the-hip take,” I said. “We call this a peculiar kind of
folie à deux
âwe might be insane, but we both know it. We keep it strictly between us, go on with our daily life just like always. But we start looking at things in this light. If it just fades out, so it goes. If it seems to shine on something, we try that.”
She nodded solemnly, her hair tickling my skin, but her lips twitched in a smile.
“We might be insane, but we both know it?” she murmured. “That's the sweetest thing a guy ever said to me.”
Los Angeles Times
, November 30
Cloud of Industrial Material Released in Fire
A fire whipped by Santa Ana winds tore through Stoddard-Line Shipping Co. in Fontana late last night, gutting the complex of warehouses and transport equipment. Firefighters battled through the night to keep the blaze from spreading. No injuries have been reported, and the facility did not store materials classified as hazardous.
However, concerns are being raised because Stoddard-Line is a major transporter of bulk commercial and industrial materials known as nanoparticles. At least several tons of the particles in powdered form were on site at the time, with most released into the atmosphere by the fire and wind.
“I hardly even know what those things are, but it's weird having them up there floating around,” one firefighter commented. “Kind of a perfect storm for spreading them all over L.A.”
A Stoddard-Line company spokesman gave assurances that the nanos are harmless, citing both industry and government sources.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
A
s always, my wife, Kim, and our families and friends; Carl Lennertz, Jonathan Burnham, Kathy Schneider, and their colleagues at HarperCollins; Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Lauren Whitney, Anna DeRoy, and colleagues at William Morris Endeavor; Roger Hedden, Drs. Barbara and Dan McMahon, and Andrew Schneider for providing invaluable advice in their fields; my mother, Georgia Knotts McMahon, for being the marvel she is; and many others who helped in many waysâmy apologies for oversights.
NEIL MCMAHON holds a degree in psychology from Stanford and was a Stegner fellow. He has published ten novels, in addition to the bestselling thriller
Toys
, coauthored with James Patterson. He lives in Missoula, Montana, where his wife directs the annual Montana Festival of the Book.
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Cover design by Archie Ferguson
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
L.A. MENTAL
. Copyright © 2011 by Neil McMahon. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN 978-0-06-134078-9
EPub Edition © October 2011 ISBN: 9780062091772
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