Wild Cards 13 : Card Sharks Read Online Free PDF

was just chaos," he said finally.
    "You didn't see anyone, didn't hear anything from the basement, didn't smell anything?"
    "No, I'm afraid not." Father Squid smiled apologetically. "I remember thinking that this was just like the movie. You know - Jokertown , with Jack Nicholson and Marilyn Monroe?"
    "What do you mean, like the movie?"
    "You've never seen it?"
    "A long time ago. I remember something about a plot against the jokers, some rich guy ..." Hannah shrugged.
    "They wanted to burn down Jokertown. They wanted to burn everything , all of us."
    The slow voice came from Hannah's left, in the corner of the room. Hannah jumped, startled - she hadn't heard anyone enter and she couldn't imagine how anyone could have slipped behind her from the doorway.
    Someone had. She recognized the humpbacked figure. "Quasiman," she said aloud, identifying him for the tape recorder. The joker glanced at her.
    "Who are you?" he asked. "Do I know you?"
    "Don't you remember? You talked to me yesterday. Your ... your right arm was missing then."
    "It was?" Quasiman shrugged as if he'd forgotten the entire incident, then went to Father Squid's side, looking down at the priest with an infinite tenderness on his strange, slack-muscled face. "How are you, Father?" he asked. Then, without waiting for an answer, "I'm sorry. I saw, but I didn't know ... I couldn't get them all out. Only a few ..."
    Father Squid had reached up with his hand. He clasped the hunchback's shoulder. "You did more than anyone else could have. I owe you my life." Quasiman nodded, then he stiffened alongside the bed, looking off into distances only he could see.
    "What's the matter with him?" Hannah asked. She hated looking at Quasiman even more than Father Squid. Something about him made her shudder in revulsion.
    Father Squid shook his head. "Parts of him just go away at times. Sometimes parts of his body will just vanish. Other times it's his mind or his memories - often he doesn't remember me or what happened yesterday or where he is. Sometimes - like now - he just shuts down entirely."
    "How long does it last?"
    "A few seconds. Minutes. There's no way to tell."
    Hannah started to ask another question, but Quasiman's eyes came back into focus then, and he was staring at her. "I remember you now," he said. "I needed to tell you - Father Squid is right. The fire was like the movie. You need to look into that. You ought to watch it."
    "Why? How's a movie going to help me?"
    "It was real ," Quasiman insisted, and Father Squid's soft voice followed.
    "Some of the events in the movie were based on facts," the priest said. "The script was written with the actual story in mind. There was a conspiracy, if not exactly one in the movie, back in the late '50s. '59, I think."
    "Yes," Quasiman said. He was gripping the railing of the bed, and Hannah, fascinated, watched the metal bars bending under the pressure of the joker's fingers. Whatever Quasiman's other problems, he was incredibly strong. "There's a lot we need to know. Start with the movie," he said. "You have to."
    "I don't think so," she told him. "I'm sorry, but we're not going to catch our torch by looking up a thirty-plus year old plot. I have a lot of leads to follow, good ones -"
    Quasiman was suddenly right in front of her, those horribly strong hands on either arm of her chair as he leaned in at her. Hannah could hear the wood-grained Formica of the handles cracking as she pressed her spine against the back of the chair. "Jesus, get away from me!" she shouted, but she couldn't escape. His breath touched her, warm and sweet, but it was the breath of a joker , of someone infected by that awful virus. She would have pushed at him, but she couldn't bring herself to touch him. Hannah started to shout once more to call the nurses and security guards, but Quasiman's face stopped her. There was no menace there, only a soft, pleading concern. "This is very important, Hannah," he said, and the use of her name was startling. "I