??That's my guess, especially considering where you found it. ?
Jerry pointed at the stone in the thing's right hand. ??Okay. So if it had a natural emerald in one hand, and a glass eye attached to the other, then I've gotta ask you what they were for. What kind of a statue was this, anyway, and what did that auction house specialize in? ?
??That's, um... that's the part I need you to keep quiet about, Jerry. The auction house is on the up-and-up, of course, but it handles this sort of thing off the books, you might say. ?
Jerry inched back. ??Why? Is it stolen? Is it illegal for you to even have this thing? And one other thing: if that root I found was part of this expensive piece of art you bought, why'd you toss it to your dog, rather than bringing it back in and re-attaching it? ?
Sam raised his hands in protest. ??Oh, no. That would definitely not be a good idea, not if I'm right about what happened after Mousse ripped that arm off of it. ?
??Why? What happened? ?
??The PNAC lost control of our reality. ?
What? ? Jerry shook the cobwebs out of his ears. ??What did you just say? ?
??I don't expect you to believe me. I didn't believe it myself at first. But if there was something to what they told me when I picked it up, I wasn't about to risk them regaining control of it again. Not now. Not after the presidential election. Not after their house of financial cards finally collapsed. ?
??Hold it. Hold it! ? Jerry said forcefully. ??Are you telling me that this thing has some magical connection to world events? ?
??Well, indirectly. But I can't think of any other reason for Cheney to be acting like he's been since Obama took office. Hell, I never even thought he'd agree to leave office, not after he declared himself to be above the law. ?
??Back up a minute. That root ?? this thing's left arm, had a glass eye embedded in it. If this is some sort of magical totem, what was the eye all about? What was it supposed to be? What was it supposed to do? ?
Sam tapped the emerald. ??I'm not certain, but I think this rock was supposed to anchor the magic to the version of Earth that they were taking for a joyride. The other arm had originally been held out in front, palm forward, so the eye could see where they were taking us. It was also magically connected to the collected minds of the people behind that evil we all just escaped from. ?
Jerry squeezed his eyes shut. ??You're kidding, right? They actually made an evil eye? ?
??Yeah. Kinda. So anyway, I'm not too keen on putting it back together, just on the chance that they'd regain their power, whatever it was. ?
??I'm with you on that, ? Jerry said. ??But one thing still eludes me. ?
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