The Hermit


    2015-


    “Mark?” Jane Hillsmierer paused in the outline of the door frame around her. She


    reached for the switch one side of the door. She had learned to distrust the dark. “It’s


    me, Jane.”


    “I’m here, Janie.” A lamp cut on, casting a glow on a work table. Mark Hadron sat so


    she couldn’t see his face.


    “Why are you sitting in the dark?” She placed her hands in front of her.


    “What brings you by, Janie?” Mark shifted slightly in the shadow. “The business is


    closed.”


    “I think you need to think about reopening it.” Jane stepped forward. “I got a warning


    from Nobody. Another rip is coming.”


    “It will have to happen without the Lamplighters.” Mark turned to look at his work


    desk. Scattered parts covered the surface. “Let someone else take up the torch.”


    “There’s no one else, Mark.” Jane hit the light switch. She blinked against the sudden


    glare from overhead. “We were the only business who could do what we did. It’s time


    to come out of the darkness.”


    Mark blinked. His remaining eye glared at her, while the other was a crater in his


    face. A long scar ran down to his chin from his hairline. A gray streak in his brown


    hair followed the scar along his skull. One hand had a hole in it from something being


    driven through it.


    “How much more am I expected to give, Janie?” Mark looked down at the hole in his


    hand.


    “We can’t hide from this.” Jane looked around the dusty workshop. “The warning has


    come. It wasn’t raised psychic energy. It wasn’t something strange acting as a trigger.


    It was a clear word from somebody who has shown he knows what’s going along the


    barriers. Those things are going to come after us first just to make sure we can’t do


    anything to them. If I have to fight alone, I will. But we both know you’re the only


    one who knows how things work.”


    “I’ll look into it.” Mark looked at his table. “I think I have a sensor that wasn’t


    junked. I’ll start doing surveys tomorrow.”


    “Thank you, Mark.” Jane smiled. “I’ll come by at eight, and help you with it.”


    Mark looked at her with his good eye. He blinked after a second. He nodded.


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    “And clean up this mess.” Jane waved at the dust. “You can do better than this.”


    “The maid has the year off.” Mark smiled slightly.


    “I’ve heard that excuse before, mister.” Jane walked out of the room. “Be ready at


    eight.”


    “You should have married her, boy.” The voice drifted softly out of the air. “Big


    mistake on your part.”


    “He’s right, Mark.” Another voice sounded from a small table across the room.


    Spectral cards dropped on the surface. “Your future would be better than this one.”


    “The lamp is charging.” A third voice spoke. A hand of light appeared, pointing at the


    metal structure they had put in when they had bought the building. “Nobody was


    right.”


    “I don’t need advice from ghosts.” Mark glared at the room. “All I am going to do is


    a simple survey of the local levels.”


    “Think about it, Mark.” Harry Cho appeared at the table. His hands dealt cards in


    front of him. “You have two futures ahead of you. One is dying a failure, the other is


    a change for the better. It all depends on the Queen which future you will get.”


    “We don’t have to guess who the Queen is, do we, boy?” Milton Kearn appeared,


    flask in hand. He took a sip, tipping his hat back out of the way.


    Dyson Baker appeared, bathed in the blue glow from the device they had set up when


    they had gone into business. He had been a big man in life, and his ghost still retained


    some of that.


    “You’re going to need replacements for us, Mark.” Baker kept an eye on the lamp.


    “You’re not going to be able to handle a rip on your own.”


    “I am just doing a survey.” Mark frowned at his former friends. “I’m not getting


    involved in any way except to keep Jane out of trouble.”


    “The future is going to be bad for you, Mark,” said Harry. He shook his head at the


    cards on the table. “Dyson is right. You’re going to need help if you want to keep on


    going. And you’re not going to shape things with Jane. She is shaping the future with


    you.”


    “You don’t have a chance in Hell of running away.” Milton put his flask away.


    “You’re done.”


    “Don’t let us down,” said Dyson. “We started the business to keep the city safe. It’s


    time to stand up and start walking again. Hiding is not doing.”


    “You’re all dead.” Mark stood. “You don’t get a say in things.”


    “Of course we do, boy.” Milton faded underneath his cowboy hat. “We’re the ones


    who did what we had to do.”


    “The lamp is drawing in power.” Dyson pointed at the machine as he turned to mist.


    “It’s going to attract things whether you like it, or not.”


    “Any last words before you fade away, Harry?” Mark turned his one eye on his last


    friend.


    “The future can’t be fought, Mark.” Harry picked up his cards. “It can only be dealt


    with and sometimes a better tomorrow means a terrible today.”


    Harry stood, tucking his cards away. He smiled as he faded away.


    “The Queen is coming, Mark.” His voice drifted in the air. “And the choice is coming


    with her. Pick the best path.”


    “Stupid ghosts.” Mark looked at his desk. The parts for the technology they had come


    up with lay covered in dust. He picked up a shell base and inspected it. He picked up


    a rag and wiped the bowl out.


    “I’m going to be ready.”