but Kane had been confused, mistaking Rad for… well, for someone else.
But the image was there, in Rad’s mind, as bright and fiery as the rippling blue corona of the Fissure itself. Kane had realized, all too late. Realized who Rad was, but more, realized what he’d done, how he’d been tricked and manipulated by others. And it had been too late. Kane had fallen into the Fissure in the Empire State and had not come out the other side in New York.
Then a year of rebuilding the city, with Captain Carson taking charge, walking into the role of the City Commissioner like it was his destiny, a year that now felt like some ridiculous golden age. Things were getting better. There was cooperation between both sides of the Fissure, Carson and his equivalent in New York, Nimrod, working together. It was secret still, of course. The existence of the two universes was known only to a select few on each side.
And then the Fissure had vanished. Rad had been busy with his detective agency. It was a distraction, and a welcome one, especially after he and Claudia had finally given up on their marriage that never was.
Rad had also been busy with Carson. The old man seemed like he needed the company, despite his high office. And, looking back, Rad knew that there had been something lurking, a black cloud over Carson that had culminated in his apparent suicide shortly after the Fissure vanished and the city entered a winter that got colder every day.
Rad watched Kane. He looked older, but then he imagined he did as well. He had no idea what Kane’s injuries were or what the machine was, but it occurred to him that Kane might be stuck in it forever, unable to survive without the King’s treatment.
Kane had nearly destroyed not only the Empire State, not only New York, but the whole of both universes. The Fissure was more than a doorway, it was a tether, a connection that both universes needed, lest they unravel.
The irony was the Fissure had closed anyway. The tether was severed, the Pocket cut off from the Origin and slowly dying. It would have been better, Rad thought, if they’d just popped out of existence, zip! And then nothing would have mattered anyway. But a slow death by a long cold worried him. How long could they survive? How bad would it get before the end?
“Rad?”
Rad jerked his head up. Kane was awake, smacking his lips and trying to look up at his friend.
“You’re the last person I expected to see again, buddy.” Rad gave him a broad smile. Kane managed one in return, and Rad saw his teeth were stained yellowy green. Rad frowned, and thought back to the barman out in Harlem.
“Rad Bradley saves the day again,” said Kane. His voice was quiet and raspy but seemed strong. “So, you here to get me out of this joint?”
Rad laughed and held up his hands. “Let me work on that. What the hell happened to you anyway? Where did you go?”
Kane narrowed his eyes, like he was thinking very hard or hadn’t understood the question. Maybe a little of both.
Kane licked his lips. “I remember falling,” he said. “I was going backwards, falling down, like I was being pulled.” Kane managed a small smile. “I don’t know, maybe I was going upwards. Up, down, didn’t really feel like anything.”
Rad leaned in. “Then what?”
“Then…” Kane frowned and winced again.
“You OK, buddy?”
Kane nodded. “Yeah. My head’s a bit sore. Happens, it’s OK. The guy in the suit will be here with the medicine soon.”
Rad chewed the inside of his cheek. He put that nugget of information to one side, and pressed on with his questions. “Where did you end up, after you fell through the Fissure?”
Kane rolled his lips, and shook his head. “I hit the floor. Hit it bad, felt like every bone in my body had broken. I remember… I remember lying on the ground, and there were all these people around me. Then there was this noise and this light, I don’t know, and then all the people were gone, and there was this guy standing there. Everything looked green. Maybe that’s just the way I imagine it. But I could see this guy standing there, standing over me. I was saying something, but… I don’t remember what. Then I was here, in this place.”