Lexicon

that leaves them dead and us alive.”
    “Okay,” he said. “This sounds like a plan.”
    “It’s not. It’s a goal.”
    “Jesus!” Wil said. “Talking to you is like herding cats.”
    Eliot raised his coffee and blew at it. “The problem is that Woolf and I are evenly matched, but she is excellently resourced and supported by skilled poets, while I have nothing and no one but you, and you’re useless. That’s not a personal commentary. It’s a statement of fact. So I’m finding it hard to imagine any scenario wherein we confront Woolf and survive. It also means our enemies will continue to pursue us rapidly and relentlessly, since we represent little danger. It’s more or less the same problem that those of us who left the organization have faced for some time. Our enemies have a bareword and we don’t.”
    “They have a what?”
    “The word that killed Broken Hill,” Eliot said. “They have that.”
    “And it’s a bareword.”
    “Yes.”
    “Which is what?”
    “Useful.” He gazed at Wil. “Hence our attempt to lift it from your brain. Still a good plan, if it’s in there.”
    “You wanted it to
use
? I thought you wanted my immunity. You said you wanted to
stop
it.”
    “Mmm,” said Eliot. “Some untruths were told, in the interests of acquiring your compliance. I was actually somewhat concerned at the time that you might use the word against me.”
    “But I don’t remember it.”
    “No.”
    “If I did . . .”
    “Oh, things would be different.”
    “Woolf wouldn’t be chasing us?”
    “She would,” Eliot said, “but more cautiously.”
    Wil looked out the window, at snow and clouds like granite. He could not imagine living in dirt and desert. “I really don’t remember anything about Broken Hill.”
    “Well,” Eliot said. He drained his coffee. “That’s a shame.” The waitress, Sarah, descended on them, refilling his cup. “Aren’t you a peach,” Eliot said.
    “Are you from the East Coast?” She reddened. “It’s just, your accent.”
    “You’re right!” Eliot said. “Well, I am. He’s from Australia.”
    “
Really
,” Sarah said, looking at Wil in a new way. “I’d love to travel, one day.”
    “Oh, you should,” Eliot said. “The world is closer than you think.” Wil looked out the window again. He felt tempted to rise, toss his napkin on the table, and walk out. Just walk on down the road, snow falling in his hair, until something happened. One way or the other. At least it would be doing something. Something stupid, most likely. But something. “Now that necklace is truly beautiful,” Eliot said. “Did you make it?”
    “It’s my grandmother,” said the waitress. A carved piece of wood, a woman in profile. A
relief
, was that what you called it? The woman looked stern. “I carved it from a photo.”
    “I think you’re very talented,” Eliot said. “Sarah, I apologize, but would you give me a few minutes? I’ve just thought of something I need to discuss with my colleague.”
    “Oh, sure. No problem.”
    She left. Wil looked at Eliot.
    “Fuck me,” Eliot said. “The fucking necklace.” Wil waited. From now on when Eliot said something he didn’t understand, he was going to wait. “We’re going to Broken Hill.”
    “Why?”
    “We thought she got it out. But she didn’t. She made a copy.”
    Wil waited.
    “Fuck!” Eliot said. “We need to move.” He rose.
    • • •
    The chopper sat above the road, billowing snow, making the power lines dance. Below them sat a small plane. It had been abandoned; she could see the steps hanging out of its side. The pilot’s voice crackled through her headphones. He was sitting right next to her, but sounded like he was dialing in from Mars. “You want to set down?”
    She shook her head. The pilot pulled back on the stick. The world below dropped away. They flew over snowfields that were like a million brilliant daggers, and she turned away, because it hurt the star in her eye. She had a little supernova searing her retina. That was how it felt. It never really went away but was always worse in the light. Anyplace she could see the sun. Sometimes she thought she could see it: a little white hole in the world.
    “Two minutes,” said the pilot. “We have a diner. Center of town. We’ve encircled but haven’t approached. How do you want to do this?”
    “Safely,” she said. “Have them sweep it, please.”
    The pilot nodded. She heard him passing on the instruction:
Sweep it;