CHAPTER SIX: The Key

Next day, the Futures sent me all the papers with Al’s name on. I showed them to John. ‘You need a lawyer,’ he said. ‘These people are criminals.’

So I got a lawyer, but it didn’t help. You need money for a good lawyer, and I had nothing. I went to the nearest lawyer’s office, but the lawyer was unfriendly and unhelpful. ‘It costs $100 for half an hour, and you pay before we talk,’ he told me. When I gave him the $100, he took off his watch and put it on the table in front of him.

He was a small man with not much hair and a white, tired face. His eyes were cold and grey, like stones. When I told him my story he said: ‘It’s not possible.’

‘But it’s true! Read this!’ He read the papers slowly, then smiled and looked at his watch.

‘Well, this is very interesting,’ he said. ‘I agree, these people are criminals. But to get the house, we have to show that your brother is dead.’

‘So how can we do that?’

‘Well, we can ask scientists to say that cryonics doesn’t work. But the Futures are going to have other scientists who say it does work. So we need a doctor to look at your brother’s body and say he’s dead. That’s a better idea.’

I laughed. ‘How can a doctor look at the body? It’s frozen to -196 Celsius. It’s just a piece of ice!’

‘Yes, well, that is difficult, Ms Shore, I do see that.’ The lawyer looked at his watch again. ‘It’s difficult, but that’s what we need to do. But…’ He looked at the papers again. ‘Before we begin, I have to tell you that Dan Future’s lawyer is one of the best in the country. Maybe I can win, and maybe I can’t. But it’s going to cost you a lot of money.’

‘How much?’ I asked.

‘$50,000 – at first. Maybe a lot more later.’

I stood up slowly. ‘Forget it,’ I said. I only had $300 in the bank, and there was no food in the house. I looked at the lawyer’s old, tired face. ‘I can’t win, can I, because I don’t have any money! The Futures are stealing that house from me, and I can’t do anything about it!’ I ran out of the office.

For a week I was angry – every day, all day. I shouted at people at work, I shouted at the kids. John got drunk, so I dropped a plate of eggs, spaghetti and hamburgers on his head. He hit me, and went to stay with one of his girlfriends. I wasn’t sorry – he was stupid and lazy, like all men.

Twice I drove past Al’s house, and saw the black car outside. That house belongs to me! I thought. Those people stole it from me! And I can do nothing.

Nothing?

One night I had a dream. In my dream I saw Al’s frozen body, with a key in his mouth. The key was warm, and the ice on Al’s frozen head changed to water. Then the key moved, and warmed Al’s body too. Al opened his mouth, screamed, and died.

At two o’clock I woke up. It was very quiet. There was moonlight in the room, and no cars were moving on the road outside. I began to think about my dream. The key! Of course. Suddenly, I had a plan.

I got up, put on a black shirt and jeans, and drove to Al’s house. The big black car was outside, but there were no lights on in the house. I left my car two hundred yards away, and walked quietly to the door.

The Futures didn’t know that I had a key. I opened the door very quietly, and went into the big living room. There was no sound – everyone was asleep. My key opened the music room too – it opened all the doors in the house.

I went in, and looked at Al.

He was still there – the silver body and icy blue face in the glass case. The room was full of blue light and the quiet noise of electricity.

Electricity – that was the thing! Al needed electricity in here for his music, and of course the freezer needed a lot of electricity too. Beside the freezer was a big electric switch. I put my hand on the switch, and smiled. ‘Goodbye, Al,’ I said. Then I switched the electricity off.

The blue lights went off, and the quiet noise stopped. It was very dark. But I didn’t go. For a long time I just stood there. I wanted to be sure.

After about twenty minutes, the sound began. Noises, from inside the freezer. I switched on my flashlight and looked at it.

The freezer was full of gas, like a cloud. The gas came from the ice; it made small noises. I waited another ten minutes, until I was sure. There was more gas, more small noises. The freezer was getting warmer!

Very quietly I went upstairs, and out of the front door. I smiled. ‘Al,’ I thought, ‘you are really dying now! And when you are dead, all this is going to belong to me! And the Futures can drive away in their stupid car!’

Happily, I touched the big black car with my hand. And that was my big mistake. Because…

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The car had an alarm, and it made a very loud noise. It also turned the car’s lights on – on, off, on, off, on, off…

Quickly, I began to run to my car, two hundred yards away. But a police car came round the corner and saw me! Two policemen got out, took hold of my arms, and pushed me into their car.

‘OK, what’s all this?’ one man said. ‘Black clothes, three in the morning, car alarm – I think we’ve got a car thief, Pete!’

‘Yeah!’ The other man touched my face with his hand. ‘A young woman, too! OK, let’s take her to the station.’