Polson said.
“You could say that,” Adrian replied grimly. “If I hadn’t turned it in on itself, when the cascade fell it might have taken out everything within blocks. Driven dozens catatonic for the rest of their lives, at least.”
“It gets harder and harder to fight . . .” Polson half-whispered to herself. Then: “You were using stored blood?”
Adrian nodded, and spoke with careful precision:
“I drink blood only when I must for major Wreakings with the Power. As do you, do you not? What is your rating on the Alberman Scale?”
She forced her eyes back to his. “Yes. Red Cross supply. I’m . . . thirty-eight percent.”
“Then you will have some idea of how absolutely horrible an experience drinking cold, dead blood is. It is much worse for me. Dog-piss would be more fun.”
Polson nodded, stopping her fork halfway to her mouth. Then she visibly put the memory out of her mind and ate.
“We’re preoccupied right now,” she said. “Believe me, I sympathize with the girl. I’ve done field work. But right now, the whole world is about to come down on our heads. You’ve heard about the Council meeting that’s been called for next year in Tiflis?”
“No, I had not,” he said. “Well, not until last night.”
“You heard that Gheorghe Brâncuşi was executed? Formally the meeting’s to elect his successor.”
Executed , Adrian thought as he nodded. Or assassinated, depending on your viewpoint .
“Harvey told me yesterday,” he said.
“Christ, Brézé, don’t you follow anything ?”
“It hasn’t been on CNN, nor on the Internet,” he said dryly. “The Brotherhood has me on their shit-list, and pretty well all the Council’s Shadowspawn would kill me if they could and deceive me just for the pleasure of it if they couldn’t. Ms. Polson, what part of retired don’t you understand?”
“Then you wouldn’t have heard that they’re going to implement Plan Trimback?”
He looked at her, drank the last of his wine, and said: “No.”
Harvey tore a piece off the baguette and buttered it.
“Usually they couldn’t organize an orgy in a Bangkok whorehouse and they put everything off and off and off because they’re planning on living forever ’n’ figure they’ve got time,” he said, biting into the bread with a crackle. “This time it’s different.”
Polson nodded. “We’re trying to figure out a counter-strategy—”
“Bullshit,” Adrian said crisply.
She glared at him; Harvey grinned and continued methodically demolishing the loaf and mopping his plate.
“I quit because the Brotherhood isn’t a threat to the Shadowspawn,” Adrian said. “It’s a nuisance . You kill a few lower-level types—”
“We got Brâncuşi,” she said.
“That was me , actually, and Adrian’s right,” Harvey said. “Two members of the Council in thirty years. And that’s . . . what . . . less than half of the number of Council heads who’ve died in faction-fights or family coups. We’re never going to be able to kill our way to victory, Sheila. There are just too damned many of them now. And they’ve got the Power.”
“You want to give up too, Ledbetter?” she rasped.
“No. I think we should admit that the Power is here to stay. Sure, if you gave me a magic button I’d push till my thumb got sore. But even the Power can’t undo the past.”
Harvey went on:
“So we need to use the Power. Y’know, you could have gotten into the Order of the Black Dawn if you’d been around back then. Hell, I might have made it. And we’re not evil . . . well, not most of the time.”
“The Order were evil,” Sheila said with flat certainty.
“Yeah, but that’s ’cause they were demon-worshipping shits who figured out they could become demons. They’d have been just as evil if all they’d had was knives and bad attitudes.”
He pointed his fork at Adrian. “Guys like Adrian are our hope. The Power isn’t evil either; it’s just a . . . technology.”
Polson
“You could say that,” Adrian replied grimly. “If I hadn’t turned it in on itself, when the cascade fell it might have taken out everything within blocks. Driven dozens catatonic for the rest of their lives, at least.”
“It gets harder and harder to fight . . .” Polson half-whispered to herself. Then: “You were using stored blood?”
Adrian nodded, and spoke with careful precision:
“I drink blood only when I must for major Wreakings with the Power. As do you, do you not? What is your rating on the Alberman Scale?”
She forced her eyes back to his. “Yes. Red Cross supply. I’m . . . thirty-eight percent.”
“Then you will have some idea of how absolutely horrible an experience drinking cold, dead blood is. It is much worse for me. Dog-piss would be more fun.”
Polson nodded, stopping her fork halfway to her mouth. Then she visibly put the memory out of her mind and ate.
“We’re preoccupied right now,” she said. “Believe me, I sympathize with the girl. I’ve done field work. But right now, the whole world is about to come down on our heads. You’ve heard about the Council meeting that’s been called for next year in Tiflis?”
“No, I had not,” he said. “Well, not until last night.”
“You heard that Gheorghe Brâncuşi was executed? Formally the meeting’s to elect his successor.”
Executed , Adrian thought as he nodded. Or assassinated, depending on your viewpoint .
“Harvey told me yesterday,” he said.
“Christ, Brézé, don’t you follow anything ?”
“It hasn’t been on CNN, nor on the Internet,” he said dryly. “The Brotherhood has me on their shit-list, and pretty well all the Council’s Shadowspawn would kill me if they could and deceive me just for the pleasure of it if they couldn’t. Ms. Polson, what part of retired don’t you understand?”
“Then you wouldn’t have heard that they’re going to implement Plan Trimback?”
He looked at her, drank the last of his wine, and said: “No.”
Harvey tore a piece off the baguette and buttered it.
“Usually they couldn’t organize an orgy in a Bangkok whorehouse and they put everything off and off and off because they’re planning on living forever ’n’ figure they’ve got time,” he said, biting into the bread with a crackle. “This time it’s different.”
Polson nodded. “We’re trying to figure out a counter-strategy—”
“Bullshit,” Adrian said crisply.
She glared at him; Harvey grinned and continued methodically demolishing the loaf and mopping his plate.
“I quit because the Brotherhood isn’t a threat to the Shadowspawn,” Adrian said. “It’s a nuisance . You kill a few lower-level types—”
“We got Brâncuşi,” she said.
“That was me , actually, and Adrian’s right,” Harvey said. “Two members of the Council in thirty years. And that’s . . . what . . . less than half of the number of Council heads who’ve died in faction-fights or family coups. We’re never going to be able to kill our way to victory, Sheila. There are just too damned many of them now. And they’ve got the Power.”
“You want to give up too, Ledbetter?” she rasped.
“No. I think we should admit that the Power is here to stay. Sure, if you gave me a magic button I’d push till my thumb got sore. But even the Power can’t undo the past.”
Harvey went on:
“So we need to use the Power. Y’know, you could have gotten into the Order of the Black Dawn if you’d been around back then. Hell, I might have made it. And we’re not evil . . . well, not most of the time.”
“The Order were evil,” Sheila said with flat certainty.
“Yeah, but that’s ’cause they were demon-worshipping shits who figured out they could become demons. They’d have been just as evil if all they’d had was knives and bad attitudes.”
He pointed his fork at Adrian. “Guys like Adrian are our hope. The Power isn’t evil either; it’s just a . . . technology.”
Polson
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