“You’re hired. When can you start?” I asked him.
He looked at a workbench, crowded with articles of armor in various stages of completion. “Three days, give or take.”
“And the cost?” I had to know in advance. I’d run out of Hardheads to kill.
“Call it four hundred, since Scoot likes you,” he said.
“Make it five hundred, and start today.” I counted out coins before he could protest, but his smile was broad and full of agreement. He didn’t count the coins, merely sweeping them into a huge hand, then stood and began selecting a hide from the rack behind him. Whatever had given up its skin had been huge and well-armored. It was thick skin, dark and scarred in places. “I’ll be at the House of the Sky when it’s ready. My pleasure doing business with you.” I stuck out my hand, watching it vanish into his. His grip was firm but controlled, like a fine instrument.
“For this price, Scoot will deliver. See you in three days at most, but you’ll want to let it cure in the sun each day for an hour. Fair enough?” Derin lifted a thunderous black brow in mock anger.
“Understood, friend. See you then.” I left him with Lasser and Mira after saying our goodbyes. When we were back in the street, Lasser tugged at my arm.
“You’ve done that before,” he said. There was a mild accusation in his tone.
“Once or twice. Where I’m from, negotiating was an occasional thing, but where I served in the Marines, it was a way of life. You take the first offer as an insult, the second as a cruel joke, and then you get to the price. If everyone is unhappy, it’s a good deal.”
“I see we share the same system of trade,” Lasser said.
“More or less. Although this is clearly not home,” I found myself saying.
“Yes, it is,” Mira replied, her voice earnest.
I stopped, looking around again. “You’re right.”
“Here we are,” Lasser said. The hotel loomed above, a beacon of civilization in the shouting streets. “The day is young. What’s next?”
I craned my neck to see if any of Wetterick’s men were visible. If I knew him, he’d be nursing his wounds, but an attack on his part would come at night. He’d learned that the light was no protection for his brand of criminal. “We eat. Then, there is something I need.”
“Which is?” Lasser inquired. “You need only ask.”
“Guns. Preferably big ones,” I told him.
Mira smiled, putting a hand on Lasser’s arm. “Let me handle this one. See that road, going west?”
“To Kassos?” I asked.
“That’s it. Any guns are on that road. The key is getting someone to sell you one for what’s left over in your bag. Might be tight,” she said.
I laughed and turned her into the cool of the hotel interior. “Leave the negotiating to me.”
15
“Master Jack,” came the whisper. It was past midnight, the stars visible in the patch of sky filling our window. The voice drifted in on the breeze, young and quiet. A kid, and not Scoot—someone I didn’t know.
Mira stirred, naked, sleeping in a state she hadn’t known for some time. Life in the Empty was hard, and rest was not easy to find when everyone saw you as profit or food. I left the blade under my mattress alone, considering my options.
I chose the least appealing of all things. I slid out of bed, leaving Mira to roll over, mumbling. Even in the low light, she was magnificent, which did little for my mood as I stalked to the window and stood to one side, looking out and down. Whoever was calling me probably intended no harm. Killers rarely give a courteous warning, no matter what year it is.
“This better be good,” I said to the night.
The answer was a small laugh. “My lady will make it so. You are wanted, Master Jack.”
“Where?” I had my suspicions. Wetterick had been a warmup. It was time for the real business.
“The House of Silk. She waits for you there,” said the voice.
“Now?” I asked.
“If it pleases you. She is ready to receive you.” There was a small clatter below, then the voice began to recede, continuing to speak. “I will be at the main door, Master Jack.”
“How will I know the house?” I hissed into the dark. I didn’t have a light, even though the sky was brilliant with stars. Some of the street lamps had guttered out, their work done until tomorrow.
“Straight east until you smell roses, Master Jack.” I heard running steps, then the night closed in, filled with the odd noises of a town in the throes of sleep.
“East until roses. Best directions I’ve ever had,” I muttered. I slipped into my clothes, then left in silence. Mira slept as my mind began to form questions about Lady Silk and what it meant that she reached out. Wetterick had some power, but I suspected that my meeting would reveal things about the post and its people, things that Wetterick could never know because he chose force over persuasion.
I followed the street to the east, past darkened homes and silent spaces that would fill with noise once the sun rose. After about a city block, I stopped, lifting my nose to the air.
“I’ll be damned. Roses.” The kid had been telling the truth. Ahead, I saw a single lamp in the double doors of a stone building, the iron gate half open. When I stepped forward, the lamp moved, and I saw her silhouette before she became clear in the small circle of golden light.
“Lady Silk,” I said to the night, and the night answered back.
“Mister Bowman. I’m glad you came. Not everyone would accept such a hasty invitation. I might even think you were waiting for it,” she said. Her voice matched her name, a silken purr that was low, cultured, and unhurried.
“I have my manners,” I said.
“You didn’t use them with that oaf Wetterick. Such a pity. He’ll have to find other brutes to collect his coins, now that you’ve made him look weak,” she said.
I could see her now, and her face and voice matched in every possible way. She was of medium height, curvy, with an acre of black curls falling to the tops of her perfect breasts. Her skin was pale, eyes green in the light, and she wore a simple robe of dark linen, stark against her skin. I’ve seen beauty before, and Mira was stunning in ways that most women could only dream of.
Lady Silk’s beauty was lethal.
“Come in. We’ve got a lot to discuss before dawn,” she said, turning into the alcove. A second, heavier door swung inward on silent pins, the wood polished to a gleam in the lamplight.
“I hope you can speak quickly. I left a warm bed and a warmer woman.”
“I can, and I will,” she said over her shoulder. The House of Silk opened before me in all its glory, and I hesitated before going forward. I expected a brothel. What I saw was a palace. At my slow pace, she turned to regard me with those enormous green eyes. Her full lips curved into an amused bow. “You thought this would be more...rough?”
The central room was sunken, filled with large chairs and couches that looked handmade. Low tables were filled with decanters of wine, glasses at the ready on trays with handles for carrying. Everything was clean, tasteful, and elegant. Three hallways faded into darkness, and a single fireplace illuminated with embers, the glow throwing dancing shadows over the room in an erratic rhythm.
“Yes,” I admitted. “But then, this fits what I’ve seen of you.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Wine? Or perhaps something stronger?” She held her hand over a bottle of dark liquid.
“Is that whiskey?” I asked, and she answered by pouring a good measure into an actual glass.
“It is. From Kassos, though I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep my trade lines open,” she said. Handing me the glass, she took a sip of her own, closing her eyes in appreciation of the drink.
“Hardhead is dead, unless you have other issues that will stop the caravans?” I sipped my whiskey. It was different, a little thicker than I expected, but good. After sleeping away the end of the world, I wasn’t about to complain.
“That wa
s a good piece of work.” She saluted me with her glass, waving to a chair. I sat, and then she did too, folding her legs up and leaning to one side. I found it hard not to stare, even as she watched me over the rim of her glass. “Hardhead was a beast. They get tired of killing after a while, or they meet something more fearsome. My issues are with humans. Traders, to be more specific, and their idiotic network of spies and thieves. They forget that my girls hear everything, and we’re experts at seeing that the right people pay well for what secrets the men utter when they’re drunk and in the arms of a beautiful woman.”
“Do your girls look like you?” I asked her.
“Of course not. There’s only one of me, although my girls are very pretty. They’re smart too, and they know what questions to ask after a man has been...satisfied.” She sipped her drink, smiling at me like a cat staring at a bird.
“I can imagine. Where I’m from, those are called honeypots. I’m glad to see that some things never change.”
“Where are you from, Jack? It’s not here, or Kassos. I’ve heard the most amazing rumors about you, but none of them make any sense. Since Mira took you to bed, my girls were cut out of the loop,” she said. Her tone was all business, but her smile hinted at pleasure.
I considered my answer then decided. Wetterick was a shithead, and Lady Silk was hardly a known quantity, but I knew I could do business with her. I trusted my instincts, finished my whiskey, and leaned forward. If she listened, we could move on. If she didn’t, I lost nothing except the truth.
“In the year 2018, I entered an experiment that kept me in a metal tube—what you call Hightec today—until a few days ago, when Bel and Mira dug me out. I have no idea what year it is, or how long I’ve been asleep, or what the hell happened to my world, but here I am. In the days since my wakening, I’ve come to a few conclusions. Would you like to hear them?”
If she was surprised, she didn’t show it. I went on.
“Life went backward. Petty thugs hold power, and the Empty is a graveyard. Somehow, you’ve managed to carve out a life here, and that tells me a few things,” I said.
“Like what?” Her eyes were bright with interest.
“Why would a woman like you choose to live in a backwater region, when the city is just over the horizon? Why would you run a whorehouse next to a pig like Wetterick, knowing that he is always scheming for a way to make you into his property?” I asked her.
“He could no more own me than he could satisfy one of my girls,” she replied.
“Poor Wetterick. He’s been kicked in the balls twice in two days, and he’s not even here to defend himself,” I said. Her laugh was musical, but I expected nothing less. She was perfect in every way.
She extended her legs, adding to the sense that she was a cat in human form. I knew she was a dangerous woman under the wrong circumstances. Like now.
After settling again, she answered, but not before licking her lips, and I considered how much of her erotic nature was for show, and how much was just because she was built to be that way. Probably a little of both.
“Kassos is on a path backward to a time when a woman like me would have precious little say in her own existence. I choose not to live like that.” The Lady spoke softly, but with confidence.
“Backward from this?” I asked, looking around. “No offense, you’ve built a bubble of comfort, but outside your walls? It’s a trading post. This is a whorehouse. Aside from a complete breakdown, how could Kassos go backward?” I was confused. Maybe she didn’t do well in the city, and this was her way of being free from the crush of humanity.
She held up her finger, pointing to the unseen city. “Where do you think all the trade goods end up?”
“Kassos, I’m sure. More money there,” I said. It seemed obvious, but I knew she was fishing. I answered and waited.
“Dozens of caravans, all digging, drilling, cutting. Every season, the desperate and stupid go deep into the Empty and find hints and echoes of something that was far greater than what you see here. A time when people lived like humans, not animals.” She snorted, and it was the first noise she’d made that wasn’t measured for effect. “We have become animals, thanks to the virus, and look what it left us. Scrabbling at the dirt to find things that might let us survive another season of dust storms, another raid...even another beast like Hardhead, risen up from the very stuff we’re made of.”
“Virus.” There was that word again. I sat up, both in body and mind.
Mira tilted her head, watching me. “Most of us don’t even know what the word means. It’s become something between legend and myth, but the effects are still all around us. You see it every day, even if you don’t understand. One day, you will.”
“How long ago did this virus hit?” I asked. Things were starting to come together in my head. I expected war to end the world, but not a virus. If it was artificial, then both of my assumptions were true. Biological weapons were the ultimate killer, and the Empty might be left over from that battle.
The tube was looking like a sanctuary instead of a curse just then.
“I don’t know, but I can make some guesses. Through the years, I’ve collected some items that might hold the key to that question, but I don’t have the ability to use them. I figured I would eventually have to lure an expert from Kassos if I wanted answers to the questions that no one else seems to be asking. Where did the virus come from? Who was left? What did it do to us, and why are there survivors? Don’t you see? That’s why I sent for you, Jack.”
“You mean it wasn’t my rugged good looks?” I asked her. The laugh she gave me made the joke worth its weight in gold.
Dangerous, I thought again.
In answer, she rose to stand before me, putting a hand on my knee. Her touch was electric. “You can’t have me that way, Jack. At least not yet, because I have things I need, and the safety of my house comes first.” She leaned down, her hair breezing past me in a rush of roses. “You come second.”
“And third,” I told her, staring at her eyes. She smiled and sat back down, our mutual challenge noted.
“That’s fair. You’re a man of Hightec, though you walk like a killer and have the muscles of a wild man. My girls watched you. They said you were just when you didn’t have to be, and brutal when it was needed. I like those qualities in a man.” She refilled our glasses in a smooth motion, crossing her legs again and waiting for me to counter her offer.
I was so taken by her physical perfection, I had to consider what the offer actually was, when it finally punched through the haze of her presence and came clear.
“Show me, and I’ll see what I can do,” I told her. To her credit, she didn’t even lift a brow in surprise.
When she started to get up, it was my turn to hold up a finger. “I wasn’t done.”
“Really? Plan on a lusty fuck here in the chair? A sample, if you will?” Her smile was lazy, her eyes narrow.
“Nothing like that, though I’m tempted. You’re used to having men spill their guts after your girls drain them of their good sense, but I’m a bit different.” When she fought a smile, I inclined my head her way. “I’m sure you’ve heard that a thousand times or more, but with me...let’s say my goals are different. A bit longer term, and I think we can help each other more than just a simple night breaking in the furniture in your house.” I held out my glass for another refill. Her whiskey was growing on me, and I didn’t feel the slightest bit drunk. Score one for the ‘bots. If they could prevent hangovers, I’d personally send every one of them a greeting card.
Her eyes went wide. Now we were getting somewhere.
“You have Hightec here, in this house?” I asked.
She hesitated for the briefest second then nodded. “I do.”
“And you want to know if it still works?”
“Yes, as well as what it does. Can you do that?” she asked me. Her tone was more open than when we first began speaking. She was worried.
“Maybe. It’s what I did before—befo
re I arrived here,” I told her.
“Then you’ll be getting answers as well. That seems like a mutually beneficial deal, Jack.” Her reply was cagey. She was going to try to flip me to her side, pay nothing, and walk away with unlocked questions that would help her in ways I couldn’t know, but her security would be the ultimate question, and that meant she needed answers about immediate threats.
I watched her closely before responding. “If I’m going to find a way to defend you against Taksa and his bitch, then you’re going to have to offer me something more than whiskey, Lady.”
To her credit again, she barely twitched, but it was enough. I’d hit the mark, and she let a breath trickle from her nose while she formed her answer. “Eventually, he’ll have enough people to take this place and I won’t go to Kassos. I belong to no one but myself.”
I knew there was a history there but let her keep the secret until she was ready to share it. Our own demons are just that—ours, until we need to bring them into the light, where they can die.
“I won’t let that happen,” I told her. The conviction I felt was like iron in my blood. I believed it, and after a second, so did she.
“Senet does not leave anything alive in her wake, and Taksa wants the world changed to his dark tastes. He’ll bring slavery and death to a place where brutality is a daily way of life, and there will be no one left. Not a soul,” she said, her voice trailing off in a pained whisper.
“Before we crown him, let’s see what can be done, okay?” I asked her.
She smiled, but it was thin and forced. Even then she was still beautiful, and I felt the need to protect this woman from becoming a casualty in the Empty. There are people and things worth saving, no matter the cost.
“Can you move about freely here, in the post?” I asked her. I had a plan, but it would require less attention than Wetterick might give us if he knew we were working together.
“Of course. These are my people,” she said. It was fact, not her bragging. “Where and when?”
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