Andrew Roller Presents
THE FADING UNIVERSE

PROLOGUE

	ÒIf someone sells smokes to kids, call them on it,Ó Frankie chortled as the bus passed.  Casually he injected the needle into his arm and pushed the heroin into his vein.  
	ÒDonÕt shoot up too much, Frankie,Ó Marvin said.  He glanced at the dwarf beside him.  ÒYouÕre already fucked in the head.Ó  
	ÒIt wonÕt mess up my aim none, Marvin.  I shoot straighter when IÕm high.Ó  Frankie grinned up at him.  Harrigan reached over as Frankie withdrew the needle from his arm.  Harrigan released the torniquet and daubed FrankieÕs arm with a premedicated pad.
	ÒHeÕs not straight, though,Ó Harrigan cautioned Marvin.  Marvin smiled and looked away.  Harrigan was an Òadult,Ó in the lingo of the day.  Gay, a pedophile.  Frankie was his lover.  Frankie was a mere child, perhaps gay, perhaps straight.  And, thanks to kidney disease, and bad genes passed down from the War, he was also a dwarf.  Marvin didnÕt know HarriganÕs age.  Probably, Harrigan didnÕt know it either.  Harrigan was a little ÒtouchedÓ in the head, as one might say, but a big, hulking figure.  He would have scared people except for his perpetually stupid, gap-toothed smile and his small, John Lennon-like glasses.  One of the lenses in his glasses was cracked, but it didnÕt seem to affect HarriganÕs vision any, at least when it came to shooting at people or admiring little boys.
	Perry waved a handkerchief across his face.  Marvin glanced over at him.  Another pedophile, but Òunderage,Ó as one might say, except he was 15 and liked girls half his age.  Perry wore large squarish glasses and had a shock of hair cut into a regular haircut that seemed perpetually uncombed.  In his rumpled busisiness suit he looked a little like Adolf Hitler on the cheap, which, considering his self-image, was probably an entirely accurate description.
	ÒThis whole job is taking entirely too long,Ó Perry scolded Marvin.  ÒI mean, itÕs a fucking bank.  WeÕve hit banks before.  How long until the safe blows?Ó
	ÒFrankie did a good job of sneaking in the explosives.  Any minute now we should see something.Ó
	ÒHarrigan, what kind of a fuse did you put on that damn thing?Ó Perry called over to Harrigan.  The four of them were sharing a bench, beside a bus stop.  Every time a bus went past it left a cloud of dust and exhaust in its wake.  Perry was obviously irritated.  He took baths frequently.  He never managed to iron his suit, but he was addicted to keeping himself clean.
	ÒI put on a good long fuse so dear Frankie wouldnÕt get blown up,Ó Harrigan said.  He pronounced each word distinctly, then hugged Frankie when he was done speaking.
	ÒA good long fuse to protect my good long pecker,Ó Frankie chortled.  Marvin shook his head.  Frankie, as they all knew, routinely had to resort to a strap on dildo to properly bugger HarriganÕs ass.  He had a two-incher in the penis department, but Harrigan didnÕt seem to mind, as long as Frankie wore the dildo.
	ÒI made a deposit, you might say,Ó Frankie said, nudging Harrigan.  The two of them broke into giggles, staring across the street at the First Universal Bank.  Perry raised his arm aloft and looked punctiliously at his wristwatch.  
	ÒWell, you may have made the deposit, but you may as well have not made it at all if the safe doesnÕt blow soon,Ó Perry said. 
	ÒTry to be patient, Perry,Ó Marvin said quietly to him.  ÒIf worse comes to worse, maybe the thing will blow up tonight, when everyoneÕs gone home.Ó
	ÒThe payroll arrives at noon.  People start cashing their paychecks at noon.  By six all the money will be gone!Ó Perry exclaimed.  ÒItÕs one oÕclock already!  Every minute I sit here watching people go in, and people come out, all of them happily withdrawing MY money!Ó
	ÒItÕs not ours Ôtil we steal it,Ó Marvin cautioned him.  ÒSuccessfully.Ó
	ÒThe operation will be a success.  The gas should kill everyone.  It will be like taking candy from a baby,Ó Perry said testily.
	ÒI want to be in Playboy,Ó Elsa announced.  She was sitting on the sidewalk, behind the bench, her back pressed up against it.
	ÒMe too,Ó Harrigan guffawed.
	ÒWhen we started for our drive the sun was shining brightly on Munich,Ó Elsa read aloud.
	ÒOh, God, story hour,Ó Frankie moaned.
	ÒWell, if you set the fucking timer right I wouldnÕt have to read you a story, Frankie darling,Ó Else replied testily.  
	ÒNot my department.  HarriganÕs department,Ó Frankie replied.
	ÒWell, youÕve got your cock up his ass so often I can hardly tell the two of you apart,Ó Else snapped.  She tossed the Playboy to the sidewalk.
	ÒIf you wonÕt let me read to you, IÕll play my radio instead,Ó Else said.  A moment later and all five of them were enveloped in the strains of some long-ago song, rediscovered and repackaged as ÔnewÕ by some d.j. whoÕd just found a copy out in the ruins.  The War had almost wiped out the human race.  But in the thousand years since then, it had slowly begun to rebuild itself.  It was a tough job.  By the time of the War, the humans had spread quite beyond one Ringworld, or two, or twenty.  All the stars had been Ôringed,Õ their trajectories anticipated, and the rings interconnected as much as physics and space-time would allow.
	Marvin looked up from the back of the matchbox.  ÒHistory of the Universe in One Volume,Ó it declared.  A likely story.  And what was all this bullshit about Ôringworlds?Õ  
	ÒSome people will sell anything to get a dollar,Ó Marvin said aloud.  He passed the matchbook to Perry.  Perry studied it intensely.  He seemed relieved not to have to think about all the money ÔheÕ was losing at the moment, as the proletariat made their withdrawals from the First Universal Bank.
	ÒTotal shit!Ó Perry announced.  He tossed the matchbook into the gutter.  ÒWeÕre just rats in a giant machine.  Man built it, man blew it up, we live in the ruins, with some places built up again.  I have no idea what they mean by rings around stars.  What?  Around Elizabeth Taylor?Ó
	Marvin grinned.  Some distant part of their past, something some called ÔThe Twentieth Century,Õ with certain vid-episodes hosted by some announcer named Cronkite, had been especially well preserved.  There was even a Church of Cronkite, devoted to studying ÔThe Twentieth Century,Õ whenever that had been, whoever he had been.  
	ÒThe stars and rings and planets and shit is all just part of that Twentieth Century crap,Ó Perry said.  He struggled for an analogy and, predictably, could only come up with a Cronkite-laced one.  ÒTheyÕre like the Moonies, you know?  They put out these free matchbooks and then you light up AND get converted.  After that, once youÕre a believer, you give them all your money for the rest of your life.Ó
	ÒSome say the historyÕs true, but I donÕt believe it,Ó Marvin shrugged.  He kicked a pebble into the street.  ÒThereÕs nothing but the ruins, you know?  Some of itÕs been built back up, most of it hasnÕt.  I mean, if we were living inside some kind of Ringworld thing, that would mean, uh, out there, somewhere beyond all these ruins, there would be...Ó
	ÒFucking empty space,Ó Perry said.  ÒWeÕd be floating in empty space, or connected to lots of other rings, all interlocking, adjusting, moving, like parts of an old clock.  It would mean that the War, even though it blew everything to Hell inside the ringworld, had somehow left mostly intact the overall structure, the Ring itself, or its hide, or its joints.  WeÕd be breathing purified air in a ... in a bubble, like, with empty space someplace out, you know, out wherever the ruins finally end.Ó
	ÒWell, as I Liberaltarian, we believe in Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech, for Parents,Ó someone with the dubious name of Bob Anthony was proclaiming on ElsaÕs radio.
	ÒFor ChristÕs sake, if youÕre going to play that damn thing keep it on MUSIC!Ó Perry hollared at Elsa.
	ÒYeah, please, not the news station, Elsa,Ó Marvin said.
	ÒOh, fuck it,Ó Elsa relented.  She turned the dial back to In-A-Gadda Da-Vida.  ÒThis new song is too long,Ó she pouted.  ÒThey should have left this one in the ruins, as far as IÕm concerned.Ó
	ÒTheyÕll play something thatÕs actually new next song,Ó Marvin mused.  ÒPerry, you want to start a rock band?Ó
	ÒWhoÕll be lead singer?Ó Perry asked.  ÒI canÕt sing.  And I donÕt want anyone else to be our leader.Ó  Marvin shrugged.  Perry was their leader, although Marvin did most of the real work these days.  Perry had been great once.  But heÕd caught syphallis from one of his little loves.  Now he was mostly insane, although in his insanity he sometimes had great flashes of brillance.  At least, Marvin told himself he did.  Otherwise, there would be no real reason to stick with Perry.  TheyÕd grown up together, in the slums that ringed Ontario.  Some kids had taken to calling Ontario ÔBellona,Õ but Marvin had no idea why.  Little kids, FrankieÕs age.
	ÒHey Frankie.  How come the little kids call Ontario ÔBellonaÕ?Ó Marvin asked the dwarf.  He saw that it was useless to ask.  Harrigan and Frankie had taken to amusing themselves by masturbating in public.  Their zippers were zipped, but their belts were loosened and they each sat on the bus stop bench as casually as they could, while meanwhile putting a hand in their pants and massaging themselves.
	ÒPerry, if your bomb doesnÕt blow soon weÕre going to be arrested for corrupting the public,Ó Harrigan chided Perry.  Frankie broke into a series of insane giggles.  Marvin eyed their bag on the sidewalk.  Inside were all their guns, their gas masks, grenades (if anyone was still alive once the gas was released).  MarvinÕs portable bazooka, FrankieÕs rifle, longer than the dwarf was tall.  Perry wore his pearl handled pistols under his suit coat.  Elsa had a Magnum in her deceptively furry purse.  Marvin wondered if he and Elsa should just run away together.  After all, he was 15, she was 14.  They could make a new life together.  He could steal just for them, instead of trying to implement PerryÕs grandiose plans that would make them all rich for life.  (Until, that was, Perry and Frankie and Harrigan and yes, even Elsa, somehow managed to spend their take from PerryÕs latest scheme in two weeks or less.)  Well, Marvin decided, it would be no use running away with Elsa if she was going to keep spending money like water.  Better to let Perry keep coming up with his nutty plans.  They worked, mostly, although not as well now.  Hopefully this one would be okay.
	Marvin heard a slurping sound.  He turned his head.  A fat boy wandered up to their bench, carrying a Slurpie cup, the half-gallon size, along with a half-eaten burger.  
	ÒAhoy, mortals!Ó Flaherty greeted them.  Marvin shook his head again.  Another nut case that was his responsibility.  Flaherty wasnÕt gay, or a pedophile.  He was just a Ôjerk-off.Õ  Somewhere he had the worldÕs largest collection of porno, and heÕd disappear now and then to amuse himself with it.
	ÒYouÕre late, Flaherty,Ó Elsa snapped.
	ÒNo, your bomb is late.  As I knew it would be.  IÕm early,Ó Flaherty said.  He grinned.
	ÒPerfect timing, Flaherty,Ó Marvin said with wry amusement.  Flaherty had told him the bomb would not blow at its appointed hour.  Flaherty was a genius, but he kept his genius mostly to himself rather than contest PerryÕs leadership.  Marvin had started with Perry, and heÕd end with Perry.  Flaherty was even more of a screwball than Perry, Marvin figured, and heÕd rather die for one of PerryÕs plans than for one of FlahertyÕs.  Flaherty was a covert Cronkite, in MarvinÕs opinion.  He believed in Ônight,Õ whatever that was.  It was just the time of day when everything closed and everyone was supposed to sleep, in MarvinÕs opinion.  But Flaherty claimed that ÔnightÕ had once existed, in something he called Ôa natural environment.Õ  And, beyond that, Flaherty claimed they were floating in Ôspace,Õ which was something that was nothing where it was ÔnightÕ all the time.  So much for the Cronkites.  Marvin had decided he didnÕt care if Flaherty tagged along with them (there seemed, in any event, no way to get rid of him) but he didnÕt (nor did any of the rest of them) want Flaherty in charge.
	The blast was deafening.  It even drowned out the voice of Bob Anthony, whom Elsa had mischievously tuned back to in the final moments before the blast.  So unexpected, it washed over the proletariat lumpin as they moved in or out of the bank, carrying their pay packets or just arriving to take possession of them.  
	ÒMasks on,Ó Marvin said.  It was one command he knew he wouldnÕt have to repeat.  Nobody argued with him.  They all grabbed their gas masks, well hidden Ôtil now, and pushed them onto their faces even as the first smells of cinnamon laced their way into their nostrils.  It was an ambivalent smell, neither entirely sour nor sweet.  But its impact could be quick and deadly once it hit you in full force.  Marvin watched, briefly, as the surviving workers, rising dazedly from where the force of the blast had pushed them to the sidewalk, suddenly seized up and fell tumbling and writhing back down.  Choking, gasping.  They died like pigeons do after enjoying an unexpected feast on strychnine.  Marvin had no pity for them.  There was no time.  Even in a corrupted city like Ontario the police were not about to overlook a bank robbery.
	Marvin distributed their guns.  FrankieÕs rifle, unweildy in its length, except for a dwarf who seemed to relish it as if it were some phallic icon.  Marvin hefted his bazooka.  It fired pulses of green Lazarfire that made holes in walls, automobiles, and (not coincidentally) any people in between.  Harrigan pulled the pin from a grenade to amuse himself.  He put his thumb over the hole.  
	ÒGet up, asshole!Ó Elsa snarled at Flaherty.  The fat boy sat blinking on the pavement.  He had spilt the remains of his drink and burger on his white-shirted chest.  His bow tie, formerly blue in color, now had pink polka dots of mustard.  Marvin, about to shoulder his heavy bazooka, thumped it down on the bus stop bench and leapt over it.  He jammed a gas mask into FlahertyÕs face before the boy had the bad sense to inhale.
	ÒThanks, Marv.  YouÕre a pal,Ó Flaherty sighed into the mask.  It fogged slightly, then the inhalEx took over and cleared the mask.
	ÒTry to do something useful in there,Ó Marvin growled, thumbing at the broken bank behind them both.  ÒThereÕs no need to stand around filling out a deposit slip, like you did last time.Ó
	ÒI was just playing a joke...Ó Flaherty grinned sheepishly.
	ÒDo me a favor and kill somebody.Ó Marvin replied.
	ÒWho?Ó Flaherty asked.
	ÒAnyone that moves.  The guards probably have masks.  They may have had time to put them on... hopefully not.Ó
	ÒIÕll do my best, Marv,Ó Flaherty answered.
	Marvin pulled a revolver out of a deep pocket in his pants and handed it to Flaherty.  ElsaÕs arm swung out and blocked him.
	ÒDonÕt give him a gun!Ó Elsa screeched through her mask.  ÒHeÕs more likely to kill one of us than anyone else!Ó
	ÒHave faith, my dear,Ó Flaherty snorted.  His fat hands managed to grope past Elsa and he seized the gun from Marvin.
	ÒAll right, letÕs go,Ó Marvin announced.  His voice was bold, certain.  He turned and led them across the street.  Traffic was stopped.  The drivers whoÕd not stopped from the blast had gone careening into storefronts, victims of the gas.  Flames began erputing from stores within the strip mall that ran along both sides of the street.  The bank, its faux-granite walls shattered, stood amidst billowing clouds of gas.  
	ÒParking is such a problem,Ó Frankie smirked.  He glanced at a car that had left the street to lodge in a storefront.
	ÒPerhaps he had to go to the bathroom real, real bad,Ó Harrigan laughed.  
	ÒMarvin, speaking of that very thing, I have to use the bathroom!Ó Flaherty announced.
	ÒSuper Chicken makes the play,Ó Frankie grumbled.
	ÒIÕm sure they...Ó Marvin began.  He glanced at Flaherty.  The boy tagged just behind Perry, his breath coming in gasps.  Perry strode like Hitler; purposefully, as if reviewing squads of troops.  Perhaps they existed, somewhere deep in his psyche.  Here, though, there were just the bodies from the blast.  Marvin had to pick his way through them but Perry somehow managed to find a path that kept him from having to alter his fantasy.  Eyes ahead, lifted, even, as if inspecting the bankÕs ruined architecture, he led them inside.
	Marvin heard a shot ring out.  He wheeled to his right.  A guard toppled forward.  The womanÕs mask was on securely, but she had a sudden problem containing her guts.  Frankie.  The little boy was often unseen by the enemy, but his own eyes spotted danger before Marvin, at least, could even apprehend the possibility of its presence.  
	ÒWait!Ó Flaherty hollared.  He got out in front of Frankie, blocking the dwarfÕs next shot.  Somehow, perhaps out of mere irritation, the dwarf held off making his second shot at the guard, his killing shot, in order to let Flaherty by.  Frankie liked his shots clean.  HeÕd have as soon killed Flaherty, but heÕd have wanted to set it up that way, not hit the fat boy by accident.  
	Flaherty scurried up to the female guard.  ÒMiss!  Uh, madam!  Could you please direct me to the lavatory?Ó Flaherty asked her in a breathless voice.  The fat boy yanked up his pants and let his heels dance a little, as if to further express his urgency.  The woman stared up at him.  Her final thoughts, sacred even to the damned in the hangmanÕs noose, were being interrupted by a request for directions to the toilet.
	Somehow the woman managed to lift a hand and wave it vaguely toward the left side of the bank.  Flaherty craned his neck up, bobbed his head.  ÒOh yes.  Why, thank you.  I see.  ThereÕs a sign there.  A lot of soot on it...  I hope the bathroom itself is clean!Ó  Flaherty dashed away from the woman, past Frankie.  ÒAll yours, thanks!Ó Flaherty said to the dwarf.
	Marvin heard the death-knell shot ring out.  The woman screamed and made a final, face-flat acquaintance with the floor.
	Marvin glanced around for Harrigan.  ÒWhereÕs Harrigan?Ó he asked Frankie.  
	ÒNight depository,Ó the dwarf said.  
	Suddenly Harrigan dashed inside the bank.  There was a foolish grin on his face.  ÒSorry, Marv, I had to make a deposit!Ó Harrigan called.  He no longer had the pinless grenade in his hand.  An explosion erupted beyond the bankÕs shattered glass doors.  A portion of the blast vetted through the back wall of the bank and shot hunks of it toward them.  
	ÒFuck, you could injure US doing that!Ó Marvin scolded Harrigan.
	ÒSorry, couldnÕt resist!Ó Harrigan chortled.  
	They made their way through the bank.  At the back, the bankÕs safe stood open.  It was a grand gesture of the bankÕs faith in its security during business hours.  Or it had simply been a necessity, with all the withdrawls being made.  Or perhaps the employees had simply been working in there.  In any event, PerryÕs prediction that it would be open (and FrankieÕs earlier report, while making his Òdeposit,Ó that it was), had proven right.  They moved inside of it.  They unfurled bags and began loading them.
	ÒJust big bills,Ó Marvin warned.  There was no time to fool with the white-collar stuff.  Passwords, key codes, and the like.  This was a direct, messy, old fashioned job.  ÔGas and Go,Õ as Perry liked to describe it.  In the distance Marvin thought he heard sirens.  He motioned for them to wrap up their chores and move out.  They hefted the bags of money and filed out of the safe and back across the bankÕs interior.  Flaherty came out of the bathroom as Marvin heard a whooshing flush erupt from somewhere beyond the bathroom doors.
	ÒThey got some great graffiti in there!Ó Flaherty laughed.  ÒNow, that is, that IÕve written it!Ó
	ÒWhat did you write--our phone number?Ó Elsa snapped.
	ÒIt says, ÔPayment required.  Please see bank manager for exact change,Ó Flaherty chortled.
	ÒCarry my bag,Ó Elsa said.  She dumped her bag of cash at FlahertyÕs feet.
	ÒWhat about womenÕs lib?Ó Flaherty asked in a pained voice.
	ÒIt just died,Ó Elsa replied.  She stalked out of the bank behind Perry, who held just a small bag, one appropriate for a Fuhrer, while Marvin struggled to carry two bags and his bazooka.  
	ÒPick it up or IÕll kick your ass,Ó Marvin snarled at Flaherty.  
	ÒMoney is dirty, Marvin!Ó Flaherty whined.  He articulated with his hands as he spoke, as if being asked to dissect a frog.
	ÒItÕs in a fucking bag!Ó Marvin shouted.  
	ÒOh, yes, but you handled the money, then you handled the bag,Ó Flaherty replied.  
	ÒPick it up or IÕll rip your gas mask off!Ó Marvin told Flaherty.
	ÒWell you donÕt have to be mean about it,Ó Flaherty whined.  He hefted ElsaÕs bag and trundled out of the bank behind Marvin.
	Across the street, in a parking spot reserved for the handicapped, stood their van.  It was an old bread-truck delivery van.  Elsa dashed ahead and slipped inside.  She started the engine and pulled the truck round in front of the bank.  Marvin could hear sirens distinctly now.  They loaded the money in the back of the van.  ÔIf you steal money in the middle of a street where everyoneÕs dead, will anyone see you?Õ Marvin asked himself.  It didnÕt matter, really.  The police were not big on investigative work.  There was plenty of face-to-face work to keep them busy.  And that, in fact, is what Marvin intended to avoid, if he could.
	Elsa got out from the driverÕs seat to allow Harrigan to take the wheel.  He was the best, well, pedophile driver in the city.  He put the van into gear and they rolled over the sidewalk, avoiding a cab.  Its driver had lost his hurry some 10 minutes ago, and was unlikely to regain it.  They rolled down a side street and were soon lost in the back stretches of the city that made up its slums.

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