Tachyon looked at Peregrine, at the rumpled bed, at Fortunato. "You," he said. He nodded like his worst suspicions had just proved out. "Peri told me you were ... helping."
Jealous, little man? Fortunato thought. "That's right," he said.
"Well, I hope I didn't interrupt." He looked at Peregrine. "The bus for the Meiji Shrine is supposed to leave in fifteen minutes. If you're going."
Fortunato ignored him, went to Peregrine, and kissed her gently. "I'll call you," he said, "when I know something."
"All right." She squeezed his hand. "Be careful."
He walked past Tachyon and into the hall. A man with an elephant's trunk instead of a nose was waiting there. "Des," Fortunato said. "It's good to see you." That was not entirely true. Des looked terribly old, his cheeks sunken, the bulk of his body melting away. Fortunato wondered if his own pains were as obvious.
"Fortunato," Des said. They shook hands. "It's been a long time."
"I didn't think you'd ever leave New York."
"I was due to see a little of the world. Age has a way of catching up with one."
"Yeah," Fortunato said. "No kidding."
"Well," Des said. "I have to make the tour bus."
"Sure," Fortunato said. "I'll walk you."
There was a time when Des had been one of his best customers. It looked like those times were over.
Tachyon caught up with them at the elevator. "What do you want?" Fortunato said. "Can't you just leave me alone with this?"
"Peri told me about your powers. I came to tell you I'm sorry. I know you hate me. Though I don't really know why. I suppose the way I dress, the way I behave, is some kind of obscure threat to your masculinity. Or at least you've chosen to see it that way. But it's in your mind, not mine." Fortunato shook his head angrily.
"I just want one second." Tachyon closed his eyes. The elevator chimed and the doors opened.
"Your second's up," Fortunato said. Still he didn't move. Des got on, giving Fortunato a mournful look, and the elevator closed again. Fortunato heard the cables creaking behind bamboo-patterned doors.
"Your power is still there."
"Bullshit."
"You're shutting it inside yourself. Your mind is full of conflicts and contradictions, holding it in."
"It took everything I had to fight the Astronomer. I hit empty. The bottom of the barrel. Cleaned out. Nothing left to recharge. Like running a car battery dry. It won't even jumpstart. It's over."
"To take up your metaphor, even a live battery won't start when the ignition key is turned off. And the key," Tachyon said, pointing at his forehead, "is inside." He walked away and Fortunato slammed the elevator button with the flat of his hand.
He called Hiram from the lobby.
"Get over here," Hiram said. "I'll meet you out front."
"What's wrong?"
"Just get over here."
Fortunato took a cab and found Hiram pacing back and forth in front of the plain gray facade of the Akasaka Shanpia. "What happened?"
"Come in and see," Hiram said.
The room had looked bad before, but now it was a disaster. The walls were spattered with shaving cream, the dresser drawers had been thrown into the corner, the mirrors were shattered and the mattress ripped to shreds.
"I didn't even see it happen. I was here the whole time and I didn't see it."
"What are you talking about? How could you not see it?" Hiram's eyes were frantic. "I went to the bathroom about nine this morning and got a glass of water. I know everything was okay then. I came back in here and put the TV on and watched for maybe half an hour. Then I heard something that sounded like the door slamming. I looked up and the room was like you see it. And this note was in my lap."
The note was in English: "Zero hour comes tomorrow. You can die this easy. Zero man."
"Then it is an ace."
"It won't happen again," Hiram said. He obviously didn't even believe himself. "I'll know what to look for. He couldn't fool me twice."
"We can't risk it. Leave everything. You can buy some new clothes this afternoon. I want you to hit the street and keep moving. Around ten o'clock go into the first hotel you see and get a room. Call Peregrine and tell her where you are."
"Does she ... does she know what happened?"
"No. She knows it's money trouble. That's all."
"Okay. Fortunato, I..."
"Forget it," Fortunato said. "Just keep moving."
The shade of the banyan tree had saved a little coolness from the morning. Overhead the milk-colored sky was thick with