The Apocalypse Script by Samuel Fort Page A

behave
properly.”
    Ben said, “Alright, I can almost
grasp how fetches work. There at least seems to be some reciprocity
in those arrangements. But this class-warfare thing bothers
me. Masters and slaves? I don’t care how rich the Nisirtu are, or
powerful, that’s a remarkable level of arrogance.”
    Lilian smiled. “Only if it is
untrue, Ben. Anyway, that belief is immaterial to your assignment.
I’m only revealing our beliefs to you because soon you’ll be
interacting with other Nisirtu and I’d rather you hear them from me
than others.”
    Letting out a deep breath, he
said, “Fine. If you guys want to be pompous asses, that’s your
business.” He decided to take the conversation in a safer
direction, saying, “Ridley told me that you have chapters that you
call kingdoms. Is tonight’s meeting open to all chapters, or just
yours?”
    “ Ours, you mean.”
    “ Right.”
    “ It is open to
any Nisirtu in good standing. There are ten kingdoms. A Family is
in charge of each kingdom, also called a House . The terms Kingdom , House , and Family are somewhat
interchangeable.”
    “ You have kings and queens, that
kind of thing.”
    “ That’s right.
Most often a king is called Anax and a queen is called Annasa . The Nisirtu are
ancient. A ruler with subjects is the natural order of
things.”
    “ What chapter
are you – are we in?”
    “ We are in the Fifth, but don’t
let that mislead you. Fiela is in the Tenth. All kingdoms exist in
all places. A kingdom is defined by its membership and the Family
that rules it, not by geographic boundaries. Just as you will have
Democrats, Republics, Libertarians, and so forth in one city, so
you will also have members from each of the Ten Kingdoms. Ziggurats
like the one we are going to now are meetings of nobles and
high-ranking scribes of the various kingdoms.”
    “ You said ‘kingdoms in good
standing?’ That implies some are not.”
    “ That’s right.
For reasons we don’t have time to go into right now, the Third,
Seventh, and Ninth Kingdoms are in rebellion. Those three kingdoms
form what is called the Maqtu . The Houses in good standing
are called simply ‘the Seven’. I am, and you are, a member of the
Seven.”
    “ Rebellion sounds rather
militaristic.”
    “ It is the proper term. They war
against us and thus we war against them.”
    “ Court battles, you
mean.”
    The woman laughed. “Yes, but not
in the sense that you mean. I mean we are killing one another. With guns or
whatever else is available.”
    “ Seriously.”
    “ Seriously. Why do you think Fiela
fights as she does? She’s been fighting the rebels for a decade,
since she was a child. Did you not see the scars on her
legs?”
    The researcher stewed on that.
“Sounds almost like a Mafia thing.”
    “ That is a fair
analogy.”
    “ You let children
fight?”
    “ Everyone does when push comes to
shove, Ben. We have been shoved.”
    Ben was troubled by that, but
said, “That might explain Fiela’s expertise. She’s a force of
nature with a mop.”
    Lilian smiled. “She is Peth-Allati . A shadow horseman . The title originated long ago, when our warriors
rode horses into battle. Peth-Allati, or Peth , are the Nisirtu equivalent of
the ancient Knights Templar. She is an ardent believer in and
enforcer of the faith, which in this case is the way of the Nisirtu .”
    “ Which is that anyone who is not a
Nisirtu is a slave.”
    “ Which is that humanity benefits
from the guiding hand of the Nisirtu and should not bite the hand
that feeds it.”
    “ And she seemed like such a nice
girl…”
    “ She is, really. So long as you
aren’t on her bad side.”
    “ I was joking, Lilian.”
    “ I’m not. But here we are, Ben. We
can continue our discussion inside.”

Chapter 11 - The Ziggurat

    The limousine had stopped in front
of a sad looking six-story brick building in a forgotten and
neglected part of town. Ben thought that the white brick structure,
built in the Italian