Already suspecting the answer, I asked, “Did he use a word more precise than ‘it’?”
Daniel’s laugh had a hint of weariness, “No, but if I had to guess, he said sothing about a device that needed to be destroyed last ti, and when we asked him if he ant the power impregnator he didn’t respond.”
I thought back to the afternoon. Even besides the tablet, we had two storage rooms worth of Abominator devices. I could think of half a dozen devices that might be good candidates for destruction and I’d only opened one of the two rooms. Plus, and I wasn’t going to ntion this outside of HQ, we had a whole lower level below the main level of HQ that Grandpa set up to be a fallout shelter and base for rebuilding civilization in case of nuclear war.
I’d co to suspect that there might be more Abominator equipnt down there in addition to canned and freeze-dried food that was well past its expiration date.
“Crap,” I said, “He’s not in… the best of health, though. Do you think we have to take him seriously?”
Daniel’s grandfather said sothing in the background and Daniel said, “Just a second,” and then in a voice that sounded distant, as if he wasn’t talking directly into the microphone, “Grandpa, which device? The Rocket has a lot of devices, rember?”
Grandpa Cohen said sothing unintelligible and Daniel’s voice ca over the phone again, “He says you’ll know it. And now he’s walked away, mumbling sothing to himself. I’m going to keep on moving. I’m the only one ho so I should keep him in sight.”
Glancing at my mom and Haley, I wondered if I should wrap up the conversation. Haley had to be able to hear both sides, but my mom couldn’t. “No problem,” I said, “but do you think he’s saying sothing useful, or is he just randomly repeating things from the past?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Daniel said, the inconsistency of his volu hinting that his phone was moving back and forth near his mouth as he walked, “but when you asked if we should take him seriously, he said ‘yes.’ I didn’t have my cell on speakerphone and I keep up enough of a block that he shouldn’t be able to pull it out of my head.
“My dad and I have suspected for years that he set up sothing in his brain that would allow him to pass out information at crucial monts. I an, the League’s board’s basically said that they’re following a plan based on what he learned about the future and that they’re not telling us to avoid ssing things up. If he’d trust anyone keep things on track, though, he’d trust himself.”
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I felt myself frown, “And he’s not being particularly talkative either. Do you think it would be worth it for Haley and to drop by?”
“No. He’s still as powerful as he used to be. We know how he responds to family, but we try not to risk guests without help and I’m the only one ho right now.” Daniel’s phone made a clunking noise.
“Okay,” I looked over at my mom. “Totally different subject. It sounds like my dad’s block is on its way out. Do you have any tips to help us make it as smooth as possible? We’re hoping it won’t drop while he’s teaching a class or sothing.”
Daniel let out a breath, “Wow. Don’t let him go on long trips alone until it happens. The way a block ends is that the subject’s brain stops reinforcing pieces of the block a little bit at a ti and learns more and more until one day it all falls. There’s no way to know what the final trigger will be, and whether it will fall gently or all at once. It’ll be better if he’s in familiar surroundings, near friends and family.”
I thought about Dad, wondering what he was doing now—watching TV or doing research for his next book, maybe loading the dishwasher. I wasn’t going to be at ho and neither was Rachel. As the person who ran the business end of Dad’s combination of writing, public speaking, therapy, and teaching, Mom worked at ho as he did.
She’d be here and that was a good thing, but on a gut level, it felt like I should be helping more than that. To Daniel, I said, “We’ll see what we can do. They both work out of the ho a lot, so my mom will be with him and I don’t think he’s got any big trips planned.”
“That sounds like the best possible situation,” Daniel said. “I think I need to help Grandpa back to his room. I should hang up.”
He did, and I explained what he’d told to mom, ending with, “Do you want to move back ho for a little while until Dad cos to himself? I can’t promise I’ll be ho all the ti, but if I’m ho in the evenings or at night, it’ll be better than nothing.”
Mom shook her head, “I think I can handle it. You’ve got your own very busy life right now and explaining why you’re here one minute and gone the next… I’m not going to pretend to know more than Daniel, but I think that’s the way you trigger the more dramatic kind of break. Don’t worry about .”
Then she stopped, glancing toward the door to the hall, “There’s sothing you should know though. I think your Grandpa Klein knew about Grandpa Vander Sloot and the Rocket. Thinking about it after my block ended, it was obvious even though I can't explain why it's obvious.”
Dad’s father, my Grandpa Klein, had taught anthropology at Grand Lake University until they eliminated the departnt and he moved to teach at the University of Minnesota. I’d never seen any indication that he knew, but I hadn’t been looking either, and now that I was, I rembered that Grandpa Vander Sloot visited him in Minnesota every year.
I’d asked him what they did once. Grandpa said they went fishing.
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