Phantoms

us.”
    “And when it did ,” Bryce said, “it would very likely encounter us at sea because the largest part of the earth is covered with water.”
    “Exactly,” Flyte said. “And if it seized everyone aboard a ship, there wouldn’t be witnesses, we’d never know about those contacts. The history of the sea is replete with stories of vanished ships and ghost ships from which the crews disappeared.”
    “The Mary Celeste .” Lisa said, glancing at Jenny.
    Jenny remembered when her sister had first mentioned the Mary Celeste . It had been early Sunday evening, when they had gone next door to the Santinis’ house and had found the table set for dinner.
    “The Mary Celeste is a famous case,” Flyte agreed. “But it’s not unique. Literally hundreds upon hundreds of ships have vanished under mysterious circumstances ever since reliable nautical records have been kept. In good weather, in peacetime, with no ‘logical’ explanation. In aggregate, the missing crews must surely number in the tens of thousands.”
    From his post by the open door of the lab, Tal said, “That area of the Caribbean where so many ships have disappeared…”
    “The Bermuda Triangle,” Lisa said quickly.
    “Yeah,” Tal said. “Could that be… ?”
    “The work of a shape-changer?” Flyte said. “Yes. Possibly. Over the years, there have been a few mysterious depletions of fish populations in that area, too, so the ancient enemy theory is applicable.”
    Data flashed up on the video displays: I SEND YOU A SPIDER.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Flyte asked.
    Sara tapped the keys: CLARIFY.
    The same message repeated: I SEND YOU A SPIDER.
    CLARIFY.
    LOOK AROUND YOU.
    Jenny saw it first. It was poised on the work surface to the left of the VDT that Sara was using. A black spider. Not as big as a tarantula, but much bigger than an ordinary spider.
    It curled into a lump, retracting its long legs. It changed. First, it shimmered dully. The black coloration was replaced by the familiar gray-maroon-red of the shape-changer. The spider form melted away. The lump of amorphous flesh assumed another, longer shape: It became a cockroach, a hideously ugly, unrealistically large cockroach. And then a small mouse, with twitching whiskers.
    New words appeared on the video displays.
    HERE IS THE TISSUE SAMPLE THAT YOU REQUESTED, DR. FLYTE.
    “It’s so damned cooperative all of a sudden,” Tal said.
    “Because it knows that nothing we find out about it will help us destroy it,” Bryce said morosely.
    “There must be a way,” Lisa insisted. “We can’t lose hope. We just can’t.”
    Jenny stared in wonder as the mouse dissolved into a wad of shapeless tissue.
    THIS IS MY SACRED BODY, WHICH I GIVE UNTO THEE, it told them, continuing to mock them with religious references.
    The lump rippled and churned within itself, formed minute concavities and convexities, nodules and holes. It was unable to remain entirely still, just as the larger mass, which had killed Frank Autry, had seemed unable or unwilling to remain motionless for even a second.
    BEHOLD THE MIRACLE OF MY FLESH, FOR IT IS ONLY IN ME THAT THOU CANST ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY. NOT IN GOD. NOT IN CHRIST. ONLY IN ME.
    “I see what you mean about it taking pleasure in mockery and ridicule,” Flyte said.
    The screen blinked. A new message flashed up:
    YOU MAY TOUCH IT.
    Blink.
    YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED IF YOU TOUCH IT.
    No one moved toward the quivering wad of strange flesh.
    TAKE SAMPLES FOR YOUR TESTS. DO WITH IT WHAT YOU WISH.
    Blink.
    I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND ME.
    Blink.
    I WANT YOU TO KNOW THE WONDERS OF ME.
    “It isn’t only self-aware; it appears to possess a well-developed ego, too,” Flyte said.
    Finally, hesitantly, Sara Yamaguchi reached out, put the tip of one finger against the small glob of protoplasm.
    “It’s not warm like our flesh. Cool. Cool and a little… greasy.”
    The small piece of the shape-changer quivered agitatedly.
    Sara quickly pulled her hand away. “I’ll need to section it.”
    “Yeah,” Jenny said. “We’ll need one or two thin cross-sections for light microscopy.”
    “And another one for the electron microscope,” Sara said. “And a larger piece for analysis of the chemical and mineral composition.”
    Through the computer, the ancient enemy encouraged them.
    PROCEED, PROCEED, PROCEED, PROCEED
    PROCEED
    PROCEED
    PROCEED
     
     
     
     

Chapter 38
    A Fighting Chance
     
    Tendrils of fog slipped through the open door, into the