6:42am
Davis opened his eyes to a hole in the sky. Round, black-for a moment, he had the impression the Earth had gained a strange new satellite, or that some unimaginable catastrophe had blown an opening in the atmosphere, and then his vision adjusted and he realized that he was looking up into the barrel of the lieutenant's Glock. The man himself half-crouched beside Davis, his eyes narrowed. His lips moved, and Davis struggled to pick his words out of the white noise ringing in his ears.
" Davis," he said. "You there?"
"Yeah," Davis said. Something was burning; a charcoal reek stung his nostrils. His mouth tasted like ashes. He pushed himself up on his elbows. "Is it-"
"Whoa," the lieutenant said, holding his free hand up like a traffic cop. "Take it easy, soldier. That was some blast."
"Did we-"
"We did."
"Yeah?"
"We blew it to Kingdom Come," the lieutenant said. "No doubt, there are pieces of it scattered here and there, but the majority of it is so much dust."
"Lee-"
"You saw what the thing did to him-although, stupid motherfucker, it serves him right, grabbing the wrong Goddamned stake. Of all the stupid fucking…"
Davis swallowed. "Han?"
The lieutenant shook his head.
Davis lay back. "Fuck."
"Never mind," the lieutenant said. His pistol had not moved. "Shit happens. The question before us now is, did it work? Are we well and truly rid of that thing, that fucking blood-drinking monster, or are we fooling ourselves? What do you say, Davis?"
"I…" His throat was dry. "Lee grabbed the wrong one?"
"He did."
"How is that possible?"
"I don't know," the lieutenant said. "I do not fucking know."
"I specifically gave each of us-"
"I know; I watched you. In the excitement of the moment, Lee and Han must have mixed them up."
"Mixed…" Davis raised his hands to his forehead. Behind the lieutenant, the sky was a blue chasm.
"Or could be, the confusion was deliberate."
"What?"
"Maybe they switched stakes on purpose."
"No."
"I don't think so, either, but we all know it wasn't much of a life for Han."
"That doesn't mean-"
"It doesn't."
"Jesus." Davis sat up.
The lieutenant steadied his gun. "So?"
"I take it you're fine."
"As far as I've been able to determine, yes."
"Could the thing have had something to do with it?"
"The mix-up?"
"Made Han switch the stakes or something?"
"That presumes it knew what they were, which supposes it had been spying on us through Han's eyes for not a few hours, which assumes it comprehended us-our language, our technology-in excess of prior evidence."
"Yeah," Davis said. "Still."
"It was an accident," the lieutenant said. "Let it go."
"What makes you so sure you're all right?"
"I've had no indications to the contrary. I appear in control of my own thoughts and actions. I'm aware of no alien presence crowding my mind. While I am thirsty, I have to desire to quench that thirst from one of your arteries."
"Would you be, though? Aware of the thing hiding in you?"
The lieutenant shrugged. "Possibly not. You're taking a long time to answer my question; you know that."
"I don't know how I am," Davis said. "No, I can't feel the thing either, and no, I don't want to drink your blood. Is that enough?"
" Davis," the lieutenant said, "I will do this. You need to understand that. You are as close to me as anyone, these days, and I will shoot you in the head if I deem it necessary. If I believed the thing were in me, I would turn this gun on myself without a second thought. Am I making myself clear? Let me know it's over, or let me finish it."
The lieutenant's face was flushed. "All right," Davis said. He closed his eyes. "All right." He took a deep breath. Another.
When he opened his eyes, he said, "It's gone."
"You're positive."
"Yes, sir."
"You cannot be lying to me."
"I know. I'm not."
The end of the pistol wavered, and for a moment, Davis was certain that the lieutenant was unconvinced, that he was going to squeeze the trigger, anyway. He wondered if he'd see the muzzle flash.
Then the pistol lowered and the lieutenant said, "Good man." He holstered the gun and extended his hand. "Come on. There's a lot we have to do."
Davis caught the lieutenant's hand and hauled himself to his feet. Behind the lieutenant, he saw the charred place that had been the Shadow, Lee's torn and blackened form to one side of it. Further back, smoke continued to drift out of the spot in the trees where Han had lain. The lieutenant turned and started walking towards the trees. He did not ask, and Davis did not tell him, what he had seen with his eyes closed. He wasn't sure how he could have said that the image behind his eyelids was the same as the image in front of them: the unending sky, blue, ravenous.
For Fiona, and with thanks to John Joseph Adams