The Code War by Ciaran Nagle Page B

that Hideki
had exposed her lack of attention to detail. But her curiosity was
aroused.
    'Yes, dragon. Seems there is a
connection to the Orient that was made by a Russian ancestor. Most
interesting.' Hideki looked down at the glass in front of him,
apparently lost in thought.
    Few demons were able to forget they were in Bezejel's presence. But
Hideki seemed determined to prove that he was not frightened by
her. He removed his legs from his footrest and said something to
it. The slavegirl inched forwards with her head down and began to
lap from the bowl. Even by the standards of Inferno she was thin
and dirty.
    ' I want
to know more about the ancestor, Hideki. The Leader has put me in
charge of the project. Is the ancestor Russian or
Chinese?'
    'All in good time,
Bezejel ,' he said patiently. He gave
another command to the slavegirl who immediately ceased her
drinking and returned to her former position. Hideki replaced his
feet on her back.
    He looked at Bezejel again. 'But
for now, did you notice the start of my seed trail?'
    'If you
mean the capital R, yes. Of course I saw it. What comes
next?'
    'That is our dragon seed trail. It
is our code. It will spell out the person that Nancy will become.
Once she has followed the trail to its end and spelt out the entire
name, eaten all the seeds, so to speak, she will be convinced that
the name was meant for her. She will see it as her destiny. She
will be excited by her new name and will become it. She will be
ours.'
    ' How
does it actually work Hideki?'
    'It will
work because we will lead her down a series of paths which will cut
her dependency on others until she lives only for herself. She will
be emotionally isolated. She will lose her belief in the natural
goodness of humanity and sink deeper and deeper into our way of
thinking. At that point she will be presented with something
mysterious which she wants to believe. She will have left her old
self behind and she will be ready for her new life. Then the unseen
bonds that connect generations of families together will become
pathways transporting the sins of the fathers to the sons and the
sins of the mothers to the daughters. For seven generations. The
dark qualities of her ancestor will cascade through the centuries
between them and will be manifested fully in her. She will be both
powerful and deadly. It is all about the timing.'
    'What's the next seed in the
trail, Hideki? The next letter in the
code?'
    But for answer, Hideki turned away
and resumed his gaze into the distance. He was as obstinate as he
was clever. He wasn't going to just roll over and divulge all his
work to Bezejel at her whim. Not over drinks at Navaho's
anyway.
    Bezejel looked around her.
Everywhere there were vixens scurrying from bar to table with drinks. There were demons escorting
squaws to the spiral staircases. And there were satyrs and imps
from many different army groups drinking to oblivion.
    In one area a fight had broken out
and two drunken jager imps were trying to cut each other's throats
with the rusted edge of a fuel can. No-one wa s paying any attention to them. But the noise was intense
nonetheless. In the background the doom doom beat added to the
sense of frenzy. It wasn't a good place to be planning a
strategy.
    'Hideki, I want you to come to our
next squad briefing. Captain Kodrob and his crew need to hear
directly from you about your planned activities. We have to
remember that we're all on the same team here. We win together or
we lose together. What do you say?'
    Hideki, surprised, put down his drink in
front of him. He loomed his face up at hers, searching her eyes,
trying to read her intent.
    'Very well ,' he responded finally, sitting back. 'I will come. But
don't try to interfere in my scheme. And don't,' he wagged a finger
at her, 'try to control me.'
    Bezejel grasped his hand with the still
wagging finger and shook it.
    'It's a deal,' she replied
instantly. 'But I'll go one better than
that.'
    'How so?'
    'If we succeed in