infinities Read Online Free Page B

biological brain. He does not know how he will tolerate the next seven days, while the surgeons rebuild his body.
    He scuttles up a ramp, through the garden and into the dome where the guests are gathered. A dozen of his spider-like toys scurry hither and yon, affording him the perfect cover.
    He finds Carrington and climbs onto the back of an empty chair. He stands and watches, his body pulsing on the sprung suspension of his silver limbs.
    "Perhaps," Carrington is saying, "rather than viewing his art from the standpoint of trying to work out what he means , what we should be asking ourselves is why ? Why does he employ this macabre art form in the first place?"
    There is silence around the table.
    "Maybe," Carrington goes on, "the answer lies not so much in Devereaux's attempting to come to terms with the outside world, but with the monster that inhabits the darkness of his inner self."
    Carrington turns his head and looks at the Spider, but his eyes do not dwell long enough for Devereaux to be sure if he knows for certain.
    "I've heard it said that our host was once a starship pilot."
    The Spider climbs down from the chair and skitters across the marble floor towards the darkness of the manse.
    ~
    For Devereaux, the seven days he is captive in the Spider seem like as many years. Never has he known the time to pass so slowly. While he exists within the Spider he cannot sleep, nor shut down the process of intellection. The unbearable recollections from all those years ago howl without cessation in his awareness.
    On the eighth day he is restored to his biological self. It is like coming home, returning to a familiar, comfortable domicile. He hurries to the lounge and checks his video and com for calls. There is a communiqué from Daniel Carrington. Will Devereaux care to meet him in Port City, to discuss a business proposal?
    That evening, Devereaux sits in a leather armchair overlooking the jungle. He is aware of the degeneration of his body. He is exhausted. His bones ache. He is beset by irregular muscular spasms, hot and cold flushes and bouts nausea. This is to be expected. How many times has this body died, and been put back together again? Fifteen, twenty? Devereaux gives thanks that soon it will all be over. He looks ahead to his rendezvous with Carrington, the confession he will make to someone who will understand his guilt.
    ~
    Devereaux hires a chauffeured air-car to transport him the five hundred kilometres to Port City. The metropolis has changed since his first visit to Venus, twenty years ago. Then it was little more than the beachhead settlement of an infant colony, struggling for autonomy from Earth. Now it is a thriving community the size of Tokyo or Rio, grown rich from the mining of the planet's many natural resources.
    The air-car descends and speeds through the twilight streets to the headquarters of VenuSat, the station with which Carrington has his show.
    He takes an elevator to the penthouse suite. A servant shows him along a corridor and into a large, glass-enclosed room, more like a greenhouse than a lounge, filled with a riot of brilliant blooms and vines. A white grand piano occupies an area of carpeted floor before a view of the illuminated city. Black and white photographs stare at him from every wall. He recognises them as the late subjects of Carrington's shows.
    Carrington himself, urbane in a black roll-neck jacket and tight leggings, emerges from behind a stand of cacti.
    He smiles and takes Devereaux's hand.
    "So pleased..." he murmurs. The livid, diagonal scar that bisects his face is wax-like in the dim lighting.
    "I conducted a little wager with myself that you would be in touch," Devereaux says.
    "I found your final performance..." Carrington pauses, searching for the right word "...fascinating. Would you care for a drink?" He moves to the bar and pours two generous cognacs.
    "Of everyone present that night," Devereaux says, "your speculations came closest to the truth."
    Carrington