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PROLOGUE

I CANNOT STOP thinking about college.

This afternoon is Maddy’s graduation from City College of New York, and the only person more excited than me and my wife, Margo, is Grandma Jessica. Unfortunately, the day and time of the graduation conflicted precisely with a vitally important meeting I was scheduled to attend at Kyoto University, and I’d found myself split between the campuses. When I mentioned this to my family, Jessica had the no-nonsense solution.

“Well, you can handle this conflict in one of two ways, Lamont,” she said, as she prepared to take our family dog, Bando, on his morning walk. “You can do the right thingoryou can go to Kyoto University. I know you’ll do the right thing.”

And so I did the right thing. But… instead of going to Japan myself, I sent Jericho Druke, one of the best and the brightest members of my team. I planned to attend the Kyoto meeting via Ultima-Vid, the newest incarnation ofZoom. The fact that Jericho Druke would actually be sitting next to the chairperson of the Kyoto Nuclear Control Department at Kyoto U in the mountainous and beautiful Tamba Highlands of Southern Japan makes me feel like I’m missing out, but like Jessica said—I can miss out on work, or I can do the right thing.

The video meeting begins. The images are so crisp and clear I can even enjoy the beauty of the huge green mountains outside the building where Jericho and the Kyoto professor sit. The rolling hills seem to teem with life. The wind blows the leaves, and I think I can even spot some small creatures moving about in the treetops.

But an unnatural movement catches my eye, right before the unthinkable happens. Incredible. The mountains begin to explode and crumble. Great piles of rocks and trees and soil come racing down, the green colors of life overwhelmed by the brown of the earth and the gray of smoke. Jericho and the professor jump up and rush toward the door. But there is no time. No time to escape. It all happens too fast. Tons and tons of debris crash through the windows. Within seconds the building walls collapse. Screaming. Sirens. The Ultima-Vid feed shows only a massive amount of rubble and dust and dirt. It refuses to lose connection, forcing me to watch it all play out in real time.

I jump to my feet, screaming. Margo and Maddy come running into the room, only to stand in shock as they watch the destruction on the screen, the audio feed still filling the room with endless wails of both sirens and people.

I am beyond horrified. I stand helpless, wishing I could crash through the screen and do something, anything. Anything to help the thousands of people at the university who have been annihilated. And most of all, most of all… my friend, my colleague, the best and the brightest, Jericho.

CHAPTER 1

THE ENTIRE CRANSTON family household is suddenly plunged into a state of shock and sadness. All of us loved and respected Jericho so much.

“Forget my graduation,” Maddy tells me, knowing how bad I feel that I wasn’t there to help. “You’ve got something more important to—”

“No,” I say firmly. “We may have lost Jericho in this nightmare. But we’re not going to lose one of the most important days in your life.”

“But—” Maddy begins to say something. I cut her off.

“No arguing, Maddy. I’m coming to your graduation.”

Maddy’s graduation is a day for her to shine, and her brightness is a beacon through all the haze that surrounds me now. I also want to show Maddy that I am completely in her corner, which I haven’t done a great job of lately. We’ve been arguing about her decision to take a summer internship in the New York City public defender’s office, even though she knows I have very little use for anythingremotely related to government work. Her next move after the internship bothers me equally. In the fall, Maddy plans on going to law school. I would much prefer that she finish training in Tibet with Dache and then get out into the real world and do something to help.

But now is not the right time to continue this argument, and she knows it.

“Okay,” Maddy says. “But don’t forget that you’ll have to sit through the guest speaker’s commencement address.”

“Oh, damn,” I say. TheRight ReverendLanata Hooper. The warmongering scum-bucket capitalist who’s made billions of dollars off the poor. How could I possibly forget?

“That woman has no more right to use the title ‘reverend’ than…” I don’t finish the sentence.

A deadly silence overwhelms the room. Maddy, Jessica, and Margo all exchange worried glances.

After waiting for the world’s longest minute, Margo finally speaks. “What’s wrong, Lamont? You look like you’re in another world.”

I open my eyes and speak softly.

“I am in another world,” I say. “A world without Jericho.”

CHAPTER 2

THE CCNY GRADUATION is being held at the huge open-air Corpus Field, where the grand old Yankee Stadium once stood many, many decades ago.

The graduation sky this afternoon is dark, depressing, not quite raining, but ready to start at any minute. The gloomy weather matches the family’s mood. Rain would only make it worse, but it might be more fitting.

I watch the happy, excited people surrounding me and try to force myself to join them emotionally. But even for someone with the powers of mind control, it’s impossible, and that only makes me more angry. Maddy deserves better. She deserves to have my full attention. When the Right Reverend Lanata Hooper is introduced, the audience erupts with a loud clash of both boos and cheers. Margo and Jessica join the chorus of boos. Then Jessica turns toward me. “Don’t even consider it,” she warns me.

I smile, some positive emotion welling at the thought of how wise she is, how well she knows me.

“You want to do one of your mind-control interferences,” she says. “But this is Maddy’s day. We can’t go spoiling it.”