Fade Out Page 0,87

and the low-level hum of the computer just . . . died.

Claire crouched there, trembling in the dark for a while and listening to the escaping hiss of steam. On one of the round screens on the computer, she saw Ada's image appear. It moved to the next screen - and then to the next. It grew a little fainter every time.

Then Ada's image faded to a single dot of white, and the screen went totally black.

Silence. Real, total silence.

Claire put her head on her upraised knees.

I'll just take a nap, she thought, and then it all just went away for a while.

When she woke up, Amelie was standing in front of the silent, dead computer, one pale hand on the keyboard touching the metal and bone.

"We'll have to get this running again as soon as possible," she said, and then turned toward Claire. "I see you're awake."

"Not really," Claire said. "I don't know what I am right now."

"Your friends are coming." Amelie's tone was cool, and her face was a mask. Claire couldn't tell anything about what she was feeling. "I called them."

"Where's Myrnin?"

Amelie's gray eyes focused on her neck. "He bit you."

"Well - a little." Claire put her hand to the wound, and winced when it throbbed. "Is it bad?"

"You'll live." Amelie turned back to the keyboard. "I'm afraid Ada is beyond help. When the electrical power failed, the nutrients that sustained her organic remnants turned toxic."

"She's dead?"

"She was always dead, Claire. Now she is well beyond our attempts to revive her." Amelie looked at her with cool, calm eyes. "Did you kill her?"

Claire swallowed. "No. I reset her, and she figured out that she couldn't be fixed. She did it herself." That seemed . . . sad, somehow. And a little bit brave. "Where's Myrnin?"

"Here," he said, and crouched down next to her, all long arms and legs, awkward and graceful at the same time. He was still wearing his black velvet coat. Claire fixed her gaze on the bloodstained, ragged hole in his left sleeve. Under it, the skin still looked red and torn. "I'm all right now. Don't worry."

"I'm not," she lied. "Does it hurt?" she asked, because he was holding his arm at an odd angle.

"A little." He was lying, too - a lot. "Claire - "

"No, don't say you're sorry. I know, you had to do it."

"I was going to say thank you for stopping Ada. She always knew you would be the one to destroy her, you know."

"What?" Claire rubbed at the headache forming between her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"She had taken it into her head that you were going to kill her," Amelie said. "She believed it. So she tried to kill you first, and in doing so, she forced you to this. Unfortunately, it is a great deal of trouble for me; Ada was very valuable. Without her, we cannot maintain many of the less scientific measures of security and travel in the town."

"No more portals," Myrnin said, and sighed."No more barriers to keep people from leaving. And we won't be able to track those who leave, at least for now."

He turned away, looking at the computer, and for a moment - just a moment - Claire saw the agony clearly visible on his face. His hand was clenched, and as he opened it, she saw the locket she'd found in the box. Ada's portrait. "Oh my dear," he said, very softly. "What we did to each other . . . I am so very sorry."

Amelie watched him and said nothing. Myrnin closed his eyes for a moment, then slipped the locket into his vest pocket and turned toward her, clearly making an effort to make himself seem normal again. As normal as Myrnin ever got. "Right. I'll need a viable candidate to replace Ada. Do you have someone in mind?"

Amelie was still watching Claire. Claire swallowed.

"I do," Amelie said softly. "But I think not quite yet. Let's see where this takes us, Myrnin."

Myrnin said, "I believe it will take us straight into trouble, if experience is any guide at all. Ah, there they are. Claire, your friends - "

She hardly had time to turn before Shane had her and was smothering her in a hug, then devouring her in a kiss, and even though she wasn't exactly in the best possible shape, she felt a hot flush race through her veins to warm her whole body. "Hey," Shane said, then gently combed her hair back from her