The Flying Eyes by j. Hunter Holly Page A

and she’ll turn you inside out, if you’re not careful.”
    He strode from the room and slammed the door behind him. Linc sat on the edge of the bed, his fists still clenched in unvented anger. He threw himself across the bed. The hell with Wes and Kelly. The Eyes were more important. He had been wrong this morning, dead wrong, and the realization threw him. He felt unsure of himself and he had to remedy that. Unless he was competent in his work, nothing would ever matter again. He’d find a way to destroy the Eyes yet. He’d find a way to redeem himself.
    * * * *
    Two days passed. The National Guard moved in and was beginning to contain the town. But the Eyes remained.
    Linc spent the days mostly alone, wrapped in depression. Kelly was gone, and the atmosphere in the house was strained, constantly edging on a near fight between the two men.
    On the third morning, the dim ringing of the phone brought Linc out of a fitful sleep, and he dressed and went down to the kitchen. Wes was there, drinking coffee.
    â€œWas that the phone?” Linc asked.
    â€œIt was,” Wes answered. “Iverson with the latest news.”
    Wes’ short tone sent Linc to the stove, where he plopped some oleo into a frying pan and dumped in two eggs. Wes knew what he wanted. He could volunteer the information.
    â€œThe National Guard has been nosing around, asking for information on the hole in the woods,” Wes opened up.
    â€œIt is a hole then?”
    â€œIt is. A big one. The people go down into it. And they don’t come back up. Some of the observers don’t make it back either.”
    â€œBut it is a hole.” Linc was glad of the confirmation. If it was a hole, a known thing, then his nightmarish imaginings could be cast aside. “Has it always been there?”
    â€œThe farmers in the area and the game warden out there say it just appeared. There’s talk about an explosion out that way, the same night the light was reported streaking over town. The light you called an idiot’s hallucination.”
    â€œSo I was wrong again,” he said. “And you’re pleased to be able to prove it to me.”
    â€œIverson has a straight Linc to Washington now. They’re sending somebody out.” Wes refused to take the bait and add fuel to the quarrel. “But nobody has a solution. No protection has been found. The Eyes are still leading people away.”
    Linc put his plate on the table and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I thought I’d go in to the lab today.”
    â€œIverson says there’s no need. Nothing’s going on out there. I’m staying here. I don’t see much sense in running back and forth when there’s nothing to be accomplished.”
    â€œThat’s fine with me. I guess the last few days have proved that we were never meant to be a team anyway. A little crisis, and we tear out each other’s throats.”
    ****
    The lab was being run by a skeleton crew. None of the project work was going on, but a certain number of men had to be there to keep tabs on the reactor.
    Iverson glanced up from his paper-strewn desk. “I told Wes there wasn’t any need for you to come,” he said.
    â€œI know. But you’re here, so why not me?”
    â€œI won’t say I’m not glad, but I really don’t see what good you can do. Things are getting worse. That’s all the news there is.”
    â€œI saw the soldiers. Sooner or later they’ll calm the place down.”
    â€œI don’t know, Linc. The panic’s spreading. People are jumping the gun all over the county. Everyone’s afraid the Eyes will widen their activities and the towns around here are turning into ghost towns. People are running. So, in the long run, if we should need them to help, they won’t be there.”
    â€œMaybe they’re smart. The Eyes might spread.”
    â€œDon’t even think that.” Iverson shuddered.