This letter was written by John Parry when he was in Umiat, Alaska. He wrote this letter to his wife Elaine to inform her of what he was up to.[1]
Content[]
My darling — so much for what did I call him, a genial dimwit — the physicist Nelson is nothing of the sort, and if I'm not mistaken he's actually looking for the anomaly himself. The holdup in Fairbanks was orchestrated by him, would you believe — knowing that the rest of the team wouldn't want to wait for anything less than an unarguable reason like no transport, he personally sent ahead and cancelled the vehicles that had been ordered. I found this out by accident and I was going to ask him what the hell he was playing at when I overheard him talking on the radio to someone — describing the anomaly, no less, except he didn't know the location — later on I bought him a drink, played the bluff soldier, old Arctic hand, more things in heaven and earth line — pretended to tease him with the limitations of science — bet you can't explain Bigfoot, etc. — watching him closely — then sprung the anomaly on him — Eskimo legend of a doorway into spirit world — invisible — somewhere near Lookout Ridge, would you believe, where we're heading for, fancy that. And you know he was jolted rigid. He knew exactly what I meant. I pretended not to notice and went on to witchcraft, told him the Zaire leopard story — so I hope he's got me down as a superstitious military blockhead. But I'm right, Elaine, he's looking for it too. The question is, do I tell him or not? Got to work out what his game is. Fondest love to both — Johnny.
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ The Subtle Knife, Chapter 5