Vivisepulture Read Online Free Page A

"Lie down. Listen to me. You're a long way from home."
    "I am, huh? Get me a beer, okay?"
    He reached out behind me and came back with a bottle of beer. I didn't recognize the brand but I wasn't complaining. I chugged it down. It was good and cold and I felt better for it.
    I looked around. I was in a circular room with a good view over red sand. "Listen, buddy, why not tell me what the fuck's going on?"
    The man removed his goggles and his eyes were silver. "You're on Mars, Buk," he said.
     
    "You're taking it well, Buk."
    I took it well when my father strapped me every day for years, I took it well when big fuckers tried to beat me up in bars in LA and New Orleans and Atlanta and Pittsburgh and New York. The trick was not to show what you're feeling inside. The trick was to freeze.
    The guy in the funny suit said I was on Mars. I froze.
    "So tell me," I said, "just how come I ended up on Mars? And get me another beer."
    He got it.
    I chugged it down.
    He said, "We brought you back."
    "I was dead?"
    "Yes."
    "And you brought me back? So you can bring Jane back too?"
    "No, Buk. No, I'm sorry. We can’t."
    I took another swallow of beer.
    "So why me?"
    "Because you're one of the greats, Buk. We've brought back the greats."
    He watched me. I said nothing.
    Hear that, you fuckers? Hear that, Pa, all you bastards who said I was shit, hear that, all you phonies in all the cities who took one look and said no?
    "One of the greats?" I said. "When did I die?"
    He said, "March, 1994."
    "Jee-sus fucking Christ..."
    The guy gave me a funny look. "You don't remember?"
    I shook my head. "Last I recall, it's '73..."
    "You lived another twenty years, Buk. You became famous. Your books sold millions, you were big in France, Germany."
    "So why can't I remember any of that?"
    "It sometimes happens. Retrieval can result in memory loss, often it’s only short term. Your memories will return."
    I saluted him with the bottle. I had that to look forward to: remembering my successful future.
    I laughed. One of the greats?
    And I was on Mars.
    I swung myself off the bed. "I need to take a dump. Where's the john?"
     
    He was still there when I got  back. "Who else?"
    "Excuse me?"
    "Who else you brought back? The greats."
    "Artists. Composers. Other writers."
"Writers like who? Celine?" 
    He shook his head. "No, not Celine."
    "Hamsun?"
    "Knut Hamsun? Yes, all the Nobel prize winners."
    "How'd he take it, being brought back?"
    The guy nodded. "He's fine. He's writing. He has a little place on the slopes of Olympus Mons."
"Lawrence?"
    "D.H. or T.E?"
"D.H.."
    "Yes. He took it badly at first, but he adjusted. He's travelling – crossing the Mare Acidalium, the last we heard."
    "And Doe – Doe–"
    "Dostoevsky?"
    "That's the guy."
    "We made the retrieval, but..." The guy shrugged.
    "What happened?"
    "He went mad. It sometimes – very infrequently – happens."
    "Mailer?"
    "Yes. He's fine. Doing the celebrity circuit."
    I thought some. "How about Hemingway?"
    "Yes. He's living nearby, as are most of the other retrievals. You'll meet them all, eventually."
"Fuck that. I didn't want to meet other writers when I was alive, and I sure don't want to meet the fuckers now."
    "That's fine, but I think you'll change your mind, in time. It's somewhat therapeutic, let's say, to meet others of your kind."
I took a long swallow of cold beer.
    "But you didn't bring Jane back?"
    "I'm sorry."
"But you could? I mean, you have the... the ability to do it, yeah?"
    He would not meet my gaze. "We only brought back the greats–"
    "Listen, buddy, Jane was great."
    "I'm sure she was, Buk, but–"
    Something tore open inside me, something big and cold and gray.
    He said, "You must be hungry. I'll get you some food. Then you can sleep a while, rest. In the morning I'll show you around. Now, food. What would you like?"
    I was hungry. I said, "Hamburger and fries. You got those? And some wine? You have wine on Mars?"
    "We have the finest vineyards in the solar system growing on