Free Empire of Dust by Chet Williamson

the dark.
    Once they got back on 40, it took only another hour to get to Winslow. Still, it was 2:30 in the morning when they entered the town. "So," Laika said to Miriam, "can we drop you off anywhere before we try and find a place for the night?"
    "Or what's left of it?" Joseph said.
    Miriam seemed slightly uncertain. "Well . . . maybe I could just go where you're staying. I mean, one motel's pretty much the same as another, and I did want to spend a few days shooting around here. . . ."
    From the comer of his eye, Tony could see that Laika wasn't pleased at the prospect, and he knew why. It was never a good idea to get friendly with civilians, even possibly psychic ones. But dumping her somewhere else would seem suspicious, and Laika must have realized that, since she nodded and said, "Sure, that's fine."
    They pulled into the parking lot of the first chain motel they saw, and registered in four singles, which seemed to surprise the clerk, who thought he was seeing two couples. They were all in the same hallway, though not in adjoining rooms.
    Tony received a call in his room five minutes after he closed his door behind him. "Come down," Laika said into the receiver, and hung up.
    Joseph was already in Laika's room when he got there. "We'll just go for a few hours sleep," Laika said. "Let's be ready to head out at nine—the hospital first, then we'll go to the site where the body was found." She paused, as though she wasn't sure what to say next.
    Joseph filled the gap. "What about the girl?"
    "What do you mean, what about her?" Tony said. "She's going to be around here for a few days, and so are we."
    "So what? She doesn't know who we are. And if she knows our covers, it doesn't matter. A lot of people are going to know Doctors Kelly, Tompkins, and Antonelli before we're finished here. From the National Science Foundation, big deal."
    "What are you saying, you want to date her?" said Joseph.
    "Date her? Hell no, but if we run into her again—and we probably will, if we're staying in the same place—so what?"
    "We want to stay as low profile as possible," Laika finally said. "And this girl's a photographer."
    "So? She's interested in rocks and Indians, not us. What are you saying, you want to terminate her because we picked her up?"
    "Of course not," Laika said. "I just don't want any of us to fraternize with her further."
    "Fine," Tony said, "But I'd have thought we'd jump at the chance to deal with a genuine psychic."
    "She's not genuine," Joseph said wearily.
    "Hey, if it weren't for her, we might be at the bottom of a goddamn canyon right now. And you heard what she said about the other times."
    "Yeah, what she said ," Joseph replied. "Okay, maybe her little premonition saved our asses, but how many times that we don't know about has she hitched a ride, pulled the same 'Stop the car' stuff, and nothing happened? And then she says, 'Oh gee, I'm sorry, I was so sure something bad was going to happen.' Tony, all we've got here is one coincidence and a little anecdotal evidence, and that's nothing."
    "I have to agree with Joseph," Laika said. "But the main point is that even if she made aliens come down and dance the boogaloo on our car roof, we're investigating a mummified corpse, not some nineties Bernadette with visions, no offense, Tony."
    "None taken," he lied. "And no fraternizing, I get it, okay?"
    "Okay," said Laika. "See you in the morning, right?"
    Tony and Joseph went in different directions when they hit the hall. Typical , Tony thought. That sonofabitch could be such a know-it-all . Tony had seen what had happened in the car, he had known there was something other than a coincidence going on there. The fact that she was Catholic helped convince him.
    Tony always felt that people of his own faith, so rich in ritual and mystery, were more susceptible to the other mysteries of this world as well. One of his mother's aunts was born with a caul, and family history told of her predicting not only the death of her