Ghostfinders 02 - Ghost of a Smile

his finger sank into the dead man, disappearing from view. He yanked his finger out and staggered back, clutching his injured hand to his chest.
    “It’s all right!” he said quickly. “It was just so cold . . . Like sticking my hand into the vacuum between the stars!”
    “A complete absence of physical presence,” said Melody. “Interesting. Not only an image but also a hole in the world . . .” She put her machine pistol away and flexed her empty hands uneasily.
    “Ow!” said JC, flapping his injured hand urgently. “Pins and needles! Sensation coming back! Ow ow ow !”
    “If they’re not really there, how do we stop them?” said Happy. “They are getting terribly close now, and not in a good way, and none of them look friendly! If anyone feels like doing something dramatic and violent, I wouldn’t object in the least.”
    “Don’t let any of them touch you!” Kim said abruptly.
    “What?” said Happy. “Why not?”
    “I don’t know,” said Kim. “I’m getting a strong feeling that would be . . . bad.”
    “Terrific,” said JC.
    “We should bring a canary in a cage, for situations like this,” said Melody.
    “We are the canary in the cage!” said Happy.
    One of the dead men surged forward, heading straight for Melody. His movements were jerky and graceless, like a puppet on unseen strings. He reached out with both hands, his unwavering gaze fixed on Melody. Happy lunged forward to stand between them. He thrust out a blocking hand, and scowled fiercely as he concentrated. The dead man exploded silently. The image flared up and was gone, as though it had never been there. All the other dead men stopped moving, frozen in their tracks, in mid movement.
    “Very impressive, Happy,” said JC. “Would you mind telling us what it was you did?”
    “A concentrated burst of telepathically projected disbelief,” said Happy, breathlessly. “My belief that he didn’t exist overwhelmed Someone else’s belief that he did.”
    “Someone else?” said JC. “What someone else?”
    “Haven’t a clue,” said Happy.
    “My brave bunny,” said Melody, dropping an arm across Happy’s shoulders. “There will be special treats, later.”
    “There are still quite a few dead men left,” JC pointed out. “Any chance you could manage that trick again?”
    “Not a hope in Hell,” said Happy. “That one effort took pretty much everything I had.”
    “You just can’t get good help these days,” said JC. “Not to worry! Now I know those things are vulnerable, I think I might have the very thing . . .” He fished in a jacket pocket, pulled out a grenade, primed it, and tossed it neatly into the advancing dead men. “Guard your eyes, children! Flashbang!”
    The grenade exploded in a blast of incandescent light. Even with their eyes closed and their heads instinctively turned away, JC and Happy and Melody all cried out as the brilliant light seared their eyes. The light snapped off, and when they could all see again, all the dead men were gone, and the lobby was completely empty.
    “What the hell was that ?” said Melody.
    “The very latest in a long line of useful gadgets that I’m not supposed to have,” JC said easily. “An exorcism grenade.”
    Melody looked at him dangerously. “An exorcism . . . Are you taking the piss?”
    “The very latest improvement!” said JC. “Gets the job done in half the time! Holy light!”
    “I know I’m going to regret asking this,” said Happy. “But how . . .”
    “You make water holy by saying the right religious words over it,” said JC. “Why should light be any different?”
    “It’s thinking things like that that make my head hurt,” said Happy.
    “Wait a moment,” said Kim, who hadn’t been dazzled by the light at all, “How did you know that grenade wouldn’t affect me?”
    “Because you’re with us,” said JC. “One of the good guys.”
    “Have you ever tested that thing in the field before?” said Melody.
    “Guess,” said JC.
    “I’m not picking up any remaining traces of the shells,” said Happy. “Any chance that light destroyed them completely?”
    “Not really,” said JC. “More likely, the light only chased them away.”
    “Oh joy,” said Happy.
    “Deep joy,” said Melody.
    “Happy happy joy joy!” said Kim, pogoing up and down in mid air.
    “Come along, children,” said JC. “We need to get up to the next floor. We need information.”
    “And weapons,” said Happy. “Really big