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but the nose wheel collapsed on landing, and we slid off the side of the
runway and into a ground control radar hut. The base was concrete. All the
passengers survived with only minor injuries, but we hit the small building
head on. It shattered the windscreen, which is very hard to do, and crumpled
in a part of the nose around the cockpit. My co-pilot had eleven broken bones
and eventually lost his leg. I, on the other hand, had a piece of metal driven
right into my skull. I have a very large metal plate in my head that makes it
impossible for me to withstand airport security today you should see their
expressions when they use the hand scanner! and although there is nothing
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wrong with the eyes themselves that we know of, there was internal bleed-ing
and damage, and I ve been unable to see since. I spent three years in British
hospitals of one sort or another and remained there, partly because I had
little to come home to and partly because, with the military government in
power here and Brazil in such a bad shape economically, I could get much
better care in the English system. Besides, I had to relearn even the basics
of balance and get my confidence as a sightless man, and the therapy was quite
good. I met Anne Marie while I was still in therapy.
You shared hospitals?
She laughed. No, by that time I d been this way for years. But I found I
could sit and rot at home, watching the telly and being spoon-fed by doting
relatives and nurses, or I could get out and do something. When an old friend
of Father s who d been working in the physical therapy wards voiced
frustration that many people with relatively minor disabilities compared, say,
to my own were so depressed and suicidal that they put themselves beyond help,
I thought I might be able to do something.
After all, if you ve lost an arm, or legs, or even your eyes but you are
confronted with someone with a more serious disability, like me, actually
doing something, what sort of excuse do you have?
The captain liked them more and more as he heard their stories.
In truth, we are one person, Tony Guzman noted. Most of me works all right,
except my eyes, and
Anne Marie s eyes work quite well. So she guides me and de-scribes the world
to me, and I do for her what she cannot do for herself. You would be surprised
at how one could get used to almost anything.
No, the captain responded, thoughtful. No, I wouldn t. We all have crosses
to bear. Some are just more obvious than others.
But what of you? Anne Marie said. No wife . . . Do you have family of any
sort?
No, not really. Well, there is one person, but I have no idea now where she
is or what she is doing.
A sister?
Not exactly. The relationship is rather
complex.
Hard to describe. It s been so long, though, that I
find it difficult now to even remember what she looked like. We had some sort
of fight. I can t remember what it was about or even if I understood it then.
She walked out, I thought for a little while, but she never returned, not even
for her things. I never saw her again, even though I half tore that city apart
looking.
You speak of it as long ago, but you are not that old, surely, Tony noted.
He returned a grim smile the man could not see. I am much older than I look.
Much older. The city, after all, had been Nineveh at the time of its glories.
I hesitate to say it, but from your account I would say that she met with
foul play, Tony noted.
Foul play possibly, he agreed, although she s not dead. Once or twice I ve
run across someone who had known her, but never did I learn of it in time to
track her. Like me, she is a survivor. If I had a clue as to where she might
be, I d still drop everything and go hunting for her, but, again like me, she
could be anywhere in the world.
You still think of her like that, even though you say you can hardly remember
her looks? Anne Marie asked, amazed. Surely there must be someone else for
you out there.
I m afraid not. We are bound in a way. Two of a kind. It s no use going into
details, but trust me on that. He turned. Ah! Here comes the sun!
The three of them grew silent and let the great orb ap-pear from the ocean
depths, seeming huge enough to swal-low the whole world. Finally Solomon said,
Have you two had breakfast yet? There is a cafe just a couple of blocks
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inland from here that is excellent. I would be honored if you would join me.
My treat.
Tony said nothing but seemed to wait for his wife to speak. She mulled it
over, then said, Thank you, I
believe we will. But then we must get back. I have to keep to something of a
schedule, and I have some medications to take. But right now I feel all
energy. We shall do some things this morning and go to sleep early.
What? With all the nightlife here?
She laughed. Not tonight. Haven t you heard? They say there s some huge
meteor that s going to come in tonight and crash in the western jungle. Some
of these bloody locals are panicking and moving out for the night or stay-ing
in church or whatever, afraid that God is going to smite them or something.
They say, though, that it might be visible here in the early morning hours.
Between one and threea.m. Atlantic time.
They say it might fragment and give us all a spectacular natural fireworks
show. I shouldn t like to miss that, with the luck of being here when it
comes.
I had to pull every string I know just to get into our room, Tony told him.
There is not a vacant room any-where in the area or farther inland, either.
All the scientists and touristas, the sort of people who go on eclipse
cruises, are all here for it, as are the newspeople from a hundred countries.
I haven t paid much attention to the news, the captain admitted. I
did hear something about it when I
noticed the shops selling lucky charms and meteor repellent in the last week
or so. I thought it was far away and inland, though.
Anne Marie roared with laughter. Meteor repellent! That s wonderful!
Don t laugh, the captain responded in a serious tone. I will be willing to
wager a good amount of money that nobody who uses it has ever been hit by a
meteor.
They all laughed at his little joke, and then Tony said, It is supposed to be
visible from here if it is clear. Of course, it is rarely clear here.
The captain thought a moment. Look, I ve got a minivan. If you re really keen
to see it, we might manage the wheelchair and drive up into the inland
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