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“No.”

“So why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know what happened.” He was angry, and the emotion had crept into his voice. The clerk was watching him, and he didn’t want to say anything that would alarm her.

“You don’t know?”

“I’ve no idea.”

“You mean you don’t remember anything?”

“Not since I got home last night.”

“Shel, you should check into a hospital.”

“I feel fine. Could you—?”

“Sure. But, look, I’ve got a class coming up. Two classes, really. I can get somebody to cover for the afternoon. But if you can hang on, the twelve o’clock class is ready to start. I can take off right after that.”

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

“I’ll get there as quickly as I can.”

He called Linda. “I’m sorry I didn’t show up this morning. My alarm didn’t go off, and I was dead tired after—”

“Who is this?” she said.

“Shel.”

There was a long pause. Then she hung up.

He tried again. “Linda—”

“Look, whoever you are, please stop. I don’t have time for games.” And she hung up again.

THE clerk came over periodically to see how he was doing. He asked how late they were open.

“Till eight,” she said. “When will your ride be here?”

“He’s coming from Philly.”

Her face showed sympathy. “That’ll be four, five hours, probably.”

“I know.” It occurred to him that Dave would be rushing around. Not a good idea. It wasn’t as if Shel would be going anywhere. He should call again and tell him to take his time.

“Here’s the phone,” said the waitress.

But all he got was Dave’s voice mail.

He gave the phone back. “If you don’t mind,” he said, “I’d like to wait in here.”

“Sure.” She smiled. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Her name was Marilyn. When he got home, he’d send her a box of chocolates.

DAVE arrived at about five thirty. “I called Les before I left the office,” he said, as they pulled out of the Chevron station and headed southeast on U.S. 6. Les was Shel’s next-door neighbor, the guy who ran the pharmacy. “He tells me your car is in the garage.”

“Yeah. Okay. By the way, I tried to call you. Ask you to take your time. All I got was your voice mail.”

Dave felt his pockets and came up empty. “I must have left it in my desk. I don’t take it with me into the classroom.” He nodded. “Yeah. That’s what happened. Because I came right from the room.” He shrugged. “No problem.” They were behind a tractor-trailer. Dave watched for his chance, pulled out, and passed. “Shel, you really have no idea what happened?”

“I was working at the house. Then I was out where you found me.”

“And that’s all?”

“Yes.”

“What’ve you got there?” Dave was looking at the Q-pod.

Shel shrugged. “Don’t know. Something my father had.”

Dave shook his head. “You need to see a doctor, Shel.”

“I guess.”

On the long ride home, the conversation concentrated on brain tumors and amnesia and various neuroses, of which neither of them knew anything, but it didn’t slow Dave’s theorizing. After all, what else could it be? Shel squirmed the entire trip. “But even if I’ve got a tumor or something,” he said, “how did I get way the hell out here? Walk?”

They had just connected with the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Har risburg, when he realized he didn’t have his keys. He’d have to break into the house.

IT was dark when they stopped at a roadside diner. While they ate, Shel figured it out. The Q-pod induced some sort of mental disruption. That would explain why his father wanted them destroyed. It was a weapon! Though that still didn’t explain how he’d gotten to the Allegheny National Forest.

Dave shook his head. It still didn’t make sense. “I think it has to do with the pressure you’ve been under. It’s your father’s disappearance, Shel. It’s been eating at you. It can’t be a coincidence that this happens just after you lose him.”

“How did I get out there?”

“Maybe you caught a bus. Rode a taxi, for that matter.”

Finally, desperate to change the subject, Shel asked about Helen Suchenko.

“She’s pretty nice, isn’t she?” Dave said.

“Yeah. She looks like a heartbreaker.”

“She’s a doctor.”

“Really? Ummm—” He hesitated.