Just Another Judgement Day by Simon R. Green Page B

no-one will be able to stop him or turn him aside.”
     
    “Some Walking Men have killed kings,” said Walker. “Some have overturned countries and changed the fate of the world. Others have followed more personal paths, clearing the world of evil one death at a time. Some stick to the shadows, some lead armies; and now one has come to the Nightside.”
     
    “If some of them have been so important, why don’t I know their names?” I said.
     
    “You probably do, if you think about it,” said Julien.
     
    “Ah,” I said. “Like that, is it?”
     
    “Mostly,” said Julien. “There have never been that many, down the centuries. Perhaps because no normal man would take such a deal, giving up love and friends and everything that makes life worth living.”
     
    “They’re killers,” said Larry. “Cold-blooded, cold-hearted killers. Judge and jury and executioner. No mercy, no compassion, no pity.”
     
    “And only he gets to decide what’s evil and what isn’t,” said Count Video. “He doesn’t care what the law has to say. He doesn’t have to. He answers to a higher power.”
     
    “No shades of grey for the Walking Man,” said Annie. “Only stark black and white, all the way. You can see why so many people in the Nightside might be feeling a tad nervous, now that he’s here.”
     
    “So as far as he’s concerned, just by being here we’re all guilty,” I said. “I can see why you thought you needed me.” I considered the matter for a while. “What do we know about the current Walking Man?”
     
    “Nothing,” said Larry Oblivion. “Not even his real name. He’s invulnerable to all forms of remote viewing. We’ve tried science and sorcery, seers and oracles, and computers, gone cap in hand begging answers from important personages on all sides, and no-one knows anything. No-one wants to know anything. They’re all afraid of being . . . noticed. All we know for sure is that he’s on his way here. Hell, he could be here right now, walking our streets, and we wouldn’t know it till the bodies started piling up.”
     
    “He punishes the guilty,” Jessica Sorrow said quietly. “And so many here are guilty of something.”
     
    “But . . . if no-one can see him, what makes you so sure he’s coming?” I said.
     
    “Because he told us,” said Annie.
     
    “Sent me a very nice handwritten letter,” said Julien. “In my capacity as editor of the Night Times . Advising us of his purpose and intentions, and that he would be here within twenty-four hours. Which time is almost up. He wanted me to publish his letter, so everyone would know he was on his way and could put their affairs in order before he got here. Very considerate of him, I thought.”
     
    “Yes,” I said. “You would. Are you going to publish his letter?”
     
    “Of course!” said Julien. “It’s news! But... not just yet. We don’t need a panic. Or people taking advantage of the situation to settle old scores. We’re hoping you can . . . do something, before matters get out of hand.”
     
    I looked around the table. “What, exactly, do you want me to do?”
     
    “I would have thought it was obvious,” said Julien. “We want you to find the Walking Man and stop him from bringing death and destruction to the Nightside in general, and us in particular. He was quite clear in his letter that he intends to kill the new Authorities to send a message to the rest of the Nightside.”
     
    “How am I supposed to stop the wrath of God?” I said. Not unreasonably, I felt.
     
    Larry Oblivion smiled. “That’s your gift. We’re confident you’ll . . . find a way.”
     
    I suppose I asked for that. “What’s the fee?” I said.
     
    “One million pounds,” said Julien. “And...we’ll owe you.”
     
    I nodded. “Sounds about right.” I looked from face to face. “You’re all powerful people. And you know even more powerful people. Some of them so powerful they aren’t people at all. So why put