[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
yet he shot me in the back. How did he do that? He s been my friend all my
life.
Not anymore, I guess, Pete said.
No. Not anymore. Eric watched the men moving around his office, sitting at
his desk, rummaging through his papers, reading a newspaper, eating doughnuts
and drinking the coffee from his machine, laughing and talking with each other
as if they owned the place and had a right to be there, and Lauren saw his
face darken. Just make yourself at home, why don t you?
Let me get the notebook, why don t I? she said.
She kept the operation neat and quick, only adding one opportunistic little
frill. While the gate was open, the officer who d been reading the newspaper
put it down. Lauren, overwhelmed by curiosity and a puckish sense of revenge,
created a tiny secondary gate beneath the newspaper, and snatched the
newspaper into it. From her vantage point, it looked like the paper had
blinked into thin air. Since none of the men had been watching it, the magical
disappearance didn t matter. But the momentary confusion and sharp annoyance
of the man who d been reading it gave her and Eric a good laugh. They could
see him accusing the men with him of taking it, and could see all of the
genuinely innocent cops denying having any part in its disappearance and
looking at each other to see which man had secretly played the prank.
You have a wicked streak, Eric told her, grinning.
I do. But mostly I wanted to see if there was anything about you in here.
Ah. Hadn t really thought about reading my reviews.
Want to take a look?
He nodded and skimmed the front page of the stolen Laurinburg Exchange. Just
below the fold. Wounded Sheriff, Deputy, Mystery Woman Vanish.
That s below the fold? Wow. What was the really big news? Lauren asked.
Two stories. The first is 11 Missing from Cat Creek, Abandoned Cars Offer
First Clue.
I can see that, Lauren agreed. Big news day for Laurinburg. She laughed.
What s the second?
Local Flu Death Toll Mounts as Bodies Found.
Wow. Really? I didn t realize it was bad enough this year to make the news.
Eric didn t answer her. He was reading the article. She watched as his lips
pursed and his face paled. Oh, my God, this is it, he whispered as he turned
the page. And a moment later, Well, I guess this time he didn t go out of
town. He put the paper down.
Page 115
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
What? Who?
More than a hundred people have died of influenza in Scotland County in the
last twenty-four hours. In the same time period, several thousand new cases
have been reported. Tens of thousands of cases are cropping up all over the
U.S., and apparently in foreign countries, too. The names of those known dead
in the county are listed in a separate sidebar, because in a couple of
instances entire families have died and no next of kin are known. Granger
Baldwin is listed as one of the dead.
The note next to his name guesses him as dead for the last few days.
You didn t notice he was missing?
Granger went off on his own a lot. He never quite fit in with the good old
boys, and he didn t want to pretend. So he made friends up in Fayetteville or
somewhere, and spent most of his free time up that way.
Lauren said, So you think that the thing that is going to destroy the world
as we know it is& the flu?
It won t actually be the flu. I d bet anything the CDC is completely
bewildered that they can t culture out any viruses from the bodies of the dead
and dying.
But it looks like the flu.
Lots of things look like the flu. This is of magical origin, though, and not
all the vaccines and antibiotics in the world will cure it. If we cannot find
the spell that will reverse it, more than half the world will die at its first
blow.
CHAPTER 14
Mourning Forest, Ballahara
Console yourself not with the lie that your foe is weak, or stupid, or evil.
Sometimes the enemy is worthy. Sometimes his cause is just. Sometimes both
sides are right in their own ways and in the hour that just causes collide,
good men will rise up and leap into the fray, and the clash of their meeting
will shake the heavens. And their blood will flow like rivers.
SEOLAR FINISHED QUOTING and looked over at Molly, his eyes curiously devoid of
emotion.
Well, that s a grim thought, Molly said. The two of them and the guards rode
back to Copper House beneath sunny skies, through rapidly melting snow. Who
said it?
The warrior Tarmin. He led the army of the Wind Veyâr against the Iron Veyâr,
during the War of Three Fish. In all of our history, there has never been
another battle so bloody, or with such high prices paid by both sides.
Because both sides were right?
Yes. Sadly. Each side fought for its own freedom, for its own right of
passage through necessary terrain, for access to vital fields, fisheries, and
forests and because of this, for its own survival. Each side had every right
to want the limited resources that would give its people sustenance in a
brutal environment. Both sides knew that the resources of the area could not
sustain everyone, and that the group which lost would surely perish man,
woman, and child. There could be no truce, no sharing, and no surrender. The
side that won the war would survive, the side that lost would perish either at
home or in exile, hounded by the hostile forces that ringed the area.
Oh, God, how awful. Who won? What happened?
No one won. Or rather, both sides lost equally and completely. The warriors
fought a series of terrible battles, first one side winning, then the other
side making up for their loss, until the strength of both camps fell to
nothing. The surviving generals threw old men, childless women, and children
into the fray, resorted to desperate tactics, and slaughtered each other
wholesale. At last, none remained to defend the land from outsiders but the
wounded, the crippled, and mothers with babes in arms. Then the keshak, the
greatest True Peoples enemies of the veyâr, swept down from the hills and
scoured the land clean of life. Not a single survivor of the Winds Veyâr or
the Iron Veyâr escaped from the killing fields. And the Three Fish territory
fell to the keshak, who inhabit it to this day.
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
God, Molly murmured.
History is a dark and bloody place, Seolar said. To avoid repeating it, we
find ourselves doing things we do not like, and do not view with pride.
You re trying to save your people, Seolar.
They rode in silence for a long, uncomfortable moment. Then Seolar said, My
falcon reached me this morning bearing a message. The traitors await me at
Copper House.
You knew they would come.
Yes. But I consort with the evil and harm the good for my own personal gain.
These men I hired to perform this foul task for me have performed it
brilliantly. For their services, I will reward them richly. But they are evil
men, and by dealing with them, by rewarding them, I become like them and a
part of what they have done.
Molly twisted her fingers through the long, coarse hair of her horse s mane
and considered what he d said. You re a good person, Seolar. You re doing
what you have to do and maybe it isn t pretty, but if these Sentinels were any
kind of people, they would have helped the veyâr long before this.
Perhaps. And perhaps not. What if their cause is as just as mine? What if
helping the veyâr will endanger the survival of their people, and their
world?
Molly laughed. There are billions of humans, Seolar and we& they& have
technology and vast resources on their side. There s nothing the universe can
throw at them that they can t take. Humankind isn t going anywhere.
Seolar glanced over at her and tried to smile. Your reassurance is a
blessing. I have fought with this dilemma for so long and I still don t know
if I can countenance my own choices. My people are dying, and my duty is to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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yet he shot me in the back. How did he do that? He s been my friend all my
life.
Not anymore, I guess, Pete said.
No. Not anymore. Eric watched the men moving around his office, sitting at
his desk, rummaging through his papers, reading a newspaper, eating doughnuts
and drinking the coffee from his machine, laughing and talking with each other
as if they owned the place and had a right to be there, and Lauren saw his
face darken. Just make yourself at home, why don t you?
Let me get the notebook, why don t I? she said.
She kept the operation neat and quick, only adding one opportunistic little
frill. While the gate was open, the officer who d been reading the newspaper
put it down. Lauren, overwhelmed by curiosity and a puckish sense of revenge,
created a tiny secondary gate beneath the newspaper, and snatched the
newspaper into it. From her vantage point, it looked like the paper had
blinked into thin air. Since none of the men had been watching it, the magical
disappearance didn t matter. But the momentary confusion and sharp annoyance
of the man who d been reading it gave her and Eric a good laugh. They could
see him accusing the men with him of taking it, and could see all of the
genuinely innocent cops denying having any part in its disappearance and
looking at each other to see which man had secretly played the prank.
You have a wicked streak, Eric told her, grinning.
I do. But mostly I wanted to see if there was anything about you in here.
Ah. Hadn t really thought about reading my reviews.
Want to take a look?
He nodded and skimmed the front page of the stolen Laurinburg Exchange. Just
below the fold. Wounded Sheriff, Deputy, Mystery Woman Vanish.
That s below the fold? Wow. What was the really big news? Lauren asked.
Two stories. The first is 11 Missing from Cat Creek, Abandoned Cars Offer
First Clue.
I can see that, Lauren agreed. Big news day for Laurinburg. She laughed.
What s the second?
Local Flu Death Toll Mounts as Bodies Found.
Wow. Really? I didn t realize it was bad enough this year to make the news.
Eric didn t answer her. He was reading the article. She watched as his lips
pursed and his face paled. Oh, my God, this is it, he whispered as he turned
the page. And a moment later, Well, I guess this time he didn t go out of
town. He put the paper down.
Page 115
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
What? Who?
More than a hundred people have died of influenza in Scotland County in the
last twenty-four hours. In the same time period, several thousand new cases
have been reported. Tens of thousands of cases are cropping up all over the
U.S., and apparently in foreign countries, too. The names of those known dead
in the county are listed in a separate sidebar, because in a couple of
instances entire families have died and no next of kin are known. Granger
Baldwin is listed as one of the dead.
The note next to his name guesses him as dead for the last few days.
You didn t notice he was missing?
Granger went off on his own a lot. He never quite fit in with the good old
boys, and he didn t want to pretend. So he made friends up in Fayetteville or
somewhere, and spent most of his free time up that way.
Lauren said, So you think that the thing that is going to destroy the world
as we know it is& the flu?
It won t actually be the flu. I d bet anything the CDC is completely
bewildered that they can t culture out any viruses from the bodies of the dead
and dying.
But it looks like the flu.
Lots of things look like the flu. This is of magical origin, though, and not
all the vaccines and antibiotics in the world will cure it. If we cannot find
the spell that will reverse it, more than half the world will die at its first
blow.
CHAPTER 14
Mourning Forest, Ballahara
Console yourself not with the lie that your foe is weak, or stupid, or evil.
Sometimes the enemy is worthy. Sometimes his cause is just. Sometimes both
sides are right in their own ways and in the hour that just causes collide,
good men will rise up and leap into the fray, and the clash of their meeting
will shake the heavens. And their blood will flow like rivers.
SEOLAR FINISHED QUOTING and looked over at Molly, his eyes curiously devoid of
emotion.
Well, that s a grim thought, Molly said. The two of them and the guards rode
back to Copper House beneath sunny skies, through rapidly melting snow. Who
said it?
The warrior Tarmin. He led the army of the Wind Veyâr against the Iron Veyâr,
during the War of Three Fish. In all of our history, there has never been
another battle so bloody, or with such high prices paid by both sides.
Because both sides were right?
Yes. Sadly. Each side fought for its own freedom, for its own right of
passage through necessary terrain, for access to vital fields, fisheries, and
forests and because of this, for its own survival. Each side had every right
to want the limited resources that would give its people sustenance in a
brutal environment. Both sides knew that the resources of the area could not
sustain everyone, and that the group which lost would surely perish man,
woman, and child. There could be no truce, no sharing, and no surrender. The
side that won the war would survive, the side that lost would perish either at
home or in exile, hounded by the hostile forces that ringed the area.
Oh, God, how awful. Who won? What happened?
No one won. Or rather, both sides lost equally and completely. The warriors
fought a series of terrible battles, first one side winning, then the other
side making up for their loss, until the strength of both camps fell to
nothing. The surviving generals threw old men, childless women, and children
into the fray, resorted to desperate tactics, and slaughtered each other
wholesale. At last, none remained to defend the land from outsiders but the
wounded, the crippled, and mothers with babes in arms. Then the keshak, the
greatest True Peoples enemies of the veyâr, swept down from the hills and
scoured the land clean of life. Not a single survivor of the Winds Veyâr or
the Iron Veyâr escaped from the killing fields. And the Three Fish territory
fell to the keshak, who inhabit it to this day.
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
God, Molly murmured.
History is a dark and bloody place, Seolar said. To avoid repeating it, we
find ourselves doing things we do not like, and do not view with pride.
You re trying to save your people, Seolar.
They rode in silence for a long, uncomfortable moment. Then Seolar said, My
falcon reached me this morning bearing a message. The traitors await me at
Copper House.
You knew they would come.
Yes. But I consort with the evil and harm the good for my own personal gain.
These men I hired to perform this foul task for me have performed it
brilliantly. For their services, I will reward them richly. But they are evil
men, and by dealing with them, by rewarding them, I become like them and a
part of what they have done.
Molly twisted her fingers through the long, coarse hair of her horse s mane
and considered what he d said. You re a good person, Seolar. You re doing
what you have to do and maybe it isn t pretty, but if these Sentinels were any
kind of people, they would have helped the veyâr long before this.
Perhaps. And perhaps not. What if their cause is as just as mine? What if
helping the veyâr will endanger the survival of their people, and their
world?
Molly laughed. There are billions of humans, Seolar and we& they& have
technology and vast resources on their side. There s nothing the universe can
throw at them that they can t take. Humankind isn t going anywhere.
Seolar glanced over at her and tried to smile. Your reassurance is a
blessing. I have fought with this dilemma for so long and I still don t know
if I can countenance my own choices. My people are dying, and my duty is to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]