A tiny camera moves around in the subject’s mouth, and an image appears on the side of a box next to the chair. Teeth in close-up, rooted in gum tissue. Crystalline drops of saliva. A Jericho wall of unblemished white enamel.

A tiny camera moves around in the subject’s mouth, and an image appears on the side of a box next to the chair. Teeth in close-up, rooted in gum tissue. Crystalline drops of saliva. A Jericho wall of unblemished white enamel.

Jose, bulgy and hairless, with one of those smooth tan, bald pates that bar girls and chorus line golddiggers supposedly love to kiss, sits behind a broad, curved desk, like the control board of a superliner.

Jose, bulgy and hairless, with one of those smooth tan, bald pates that bar girls and chorus line golddiggers supposedly love to kiss, sits behind a broad, curved desk, like the control board of a superliner.

There’s a soupy, high-temperature brew of quarks and glouons seething around in there, maybe a miniaturization of the Big Bang as bits of gold and titanium collide at hyperspeeds, blasting millions of particles into honeycombed fly catchers.

There’s a soupy, high-temperature brew of quarks and glouons seething around in there, maybe a miniaturization of the Big Bang as bits of gold and titanium collide at hyperspeeds, blasting millions of particles into honeycombed fly catchers.

Specko and his men bristle with weaponry. They have pistols on their belts, grenades dangling from shirt pockets, ammunition straps over their shoulders. Grande Mal carries a long tube that could be a bazooka or a flamethrower. Buster, who finally struggles to his feet, has a jerryrigged rifle – copper-pipe barrel and stock carved from a block of raw wood -- strapped to his back and bullets hanging from his hat.

Specko and his men bristle with weaponry. They have pistols on their belts, grenades dangling from shirt pockets, ammunition straps over their shoulders. Grande Mal carries a long tube that could be a bazooka or a flamethrower. Buster, who finally struggles to his feet, has a jerryrigged rifle – copper-pipe barrel and stock carved from a block of raw wood -- strapped to his back and bullets hanging from his hat.

Specko and his men bristle with weaponry. They have pistols on their belts, grenades dangling from shirt pockets

Specko and his men bristle with weaponry. They have pistols on their belts, grenades dangling from shirt pockets