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above the back. The old man's prosthetic eyes lay on the desk behind him.
"I thought I'd find you here," Lutt said.
There was no response.
Lutt put his drink on the desk and went around it to look down at L.H. The
senior Hanson sat leaning back into a corner of the chair with his eyes
closed.
Lutt, he is not breathing, Ryll intruded.
Lutt put a hand to L.H.'s cheek. The skin was cold. He lifted an eyelid and
saw emptiness there.
So this is how it happens, Lutt thought. He found a chair and sat in it
facing the body. L.H.
looked more peaceful than Lutt had ever before seen him.
"We never did have that real man-to-man talk," Lutt said. He glanced around
the room, seeing the eclectic collection of L.H.'s memorabilia.
Lutt stared at a dented red and white hard hat hanging on the wall beyond the
body. "I always thought this room suited you better than that damned office
in the MX complex. Remember how you used to let me play with that hard hat
from your days as a space docker?"
Lutt, he is dead, Ryll objected. He cannot hear you.
You don't know that.
This is macabre!
So leave me alone! He was my father for better or worse.
I do believe you're actually feeling grief.
Maybe I am.
Lutt's attention went to the prosthetic eyes on The desk and he slowly became
aware that they were weighting a sheet of paper with something written on it.
He leaned over and captured the paper, reading in his father's familiar
scrawl:
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"I know this is the end, Lutt, and I hope you get this. It's all yours now.
I can't --" Whatever his father could not do was lost in a trailing line of
ink.
"So it's all mine, is it?"
Lutt stared at the paper, feeling The upswelling of blind rage. "You think
that's a big joke, don't you, Father?"
He glared at the peaceful face. "You're laughing! I know you are!"
Lutt waved the piece of paper. "Okay, but I'll have the last laugh! With
this in my hand, I'm going to rule The roost! You see if I don't!"
"Lutt! Please don't raise your voice that way. We can hear you all The way
down to the party."
It was Phoenicia standing in The open doorway.
Lutt folded the paper containing his father's last words and put it in his
breast pocket. He felt icy calm.
"He's really done it this time, Mother. He's really done it."
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She tried to grab his arm as he brushed past her but he shook himself free.
"Where are you going?" she demanded.
"To my house where I can get out of this monkey suit and then to his office.
That's where I'm supposed to go now."
You have all seen these old John Wayne movies and I want you to use them as a
pattern. Each of you must be strong and silent in your Legion guise. Silence
will protect you. Strength will make you feared.
-- Jongleur's instructions to his Dreen volunteers
Nishi heard Lutt come slamming into the house and she retreated to her room
where she locked the door, clutching the key in one sweaty hand. A window
beside her showed lights still bright at the main house and an odd underwater
glow from the lake directly in front of it.
The noises of Lutt moving around the house had a savage sound, doors slamming,
shouts for Mrs.
Ebey, curses. She heard him pounding up the stairs finally and the doorknob
turned. A fist slammed against the door.
"Nishi!"
She forced herself to speak calmly. "What is it, Lutt?"
"Open this door!"
"I will not do that, Lutt."
"Come on, Ni-Ni! My old man's just died and I need to talk to you."
"Your father is dead?"
"It just happened. Come on, Ni-Ni! We have to talk."
"I am very sorry about your father, Lutt, but we can talk through the door."
"Open the door or I'll get Mrs. Ebey to do it."
"I have the only key, Lutt."
The door rattled and there was quiet for a moment, then: "This is stupid,
Ni-Ni! Open the door."
"I will not do that, Lutt."
"If you don't, I'm going to eat some basil and put Ryll out of action!"
"That may be difficult for you to do, Lutt."
"Just open the damn door!"
She remained silent, staring at the dark panel. Would it withstand him, as
Mrs. Ebey said, if he tried to break it down?
"I just want to talk to you."
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"Are we not talking, Lutt? What is it you wish to say?"
"I need you, Ni-Ni."
"I'm aware of that."
"This is a helluva way to show you love me. Didn't you hear me say my father
just died?"
"I grieve with you, Lutt, but I will not open this door."
"I've got to go to his office."
"Was that what you wished to tell me?"
"No, dammit! You've got me all confused. I love you and now my mother's
trying to marry me off to a society idiot!"
"But your mother and I have an agreement. She says she will approve of me."
"That's typical! Well, she's just been pushing this Eola VanDyke on me."
"What's an Eola VanDyke?"
"That's the mindless twit she wants me to marry!"
"Are we not engaged to marry, Lutt?"
"Sure we are. Now, open the door."
"You may enter my bedroom only when we are married."
"Damn you, Ni-Ni! Open this door or you'll be sorry!"
"Good night, Lutt. I will say a novena for your father."
"Say your damn novena! And I hope it satisfies you!"
She heard him slamming down the stairs. The outer door banged but she did not
unlock her door.
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