Sandburg stirred. “Unseen Demons.” A little of the monster’s previous arrogance came back to him, then. “You’re crazier than I am.”
“And if some imaginative Catarkhan told his friends that there were invisible people walking around among them, trying to get them to pay attention? What would they say to that?”
He looked past her, through her, through even the walls of his cell, seeing not the shape of his cage but the shape of the idea that was forming. His lips twitched, the look of a man fed an exotic treat who was trying to decide whether he liked it.
Cort said, “Maybe it’s the kind of idea you have to be crazy to imagine. Maybe it’s the kind of idea you can only believe if you’re desperate for absolution. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea — just an old one we thought we could safely outgrow. Maybe the demons who we used to believe influenced all our worst impulses do exist — and we were only wrong about what they were and where they come from. Maybe they come from all around us, and we’re just not equipped to see them. Maybe that frustrates them so much they get even by pulling our strings.” She took such a deep breath that the rest of her words emerged in a half-hysterical shudder. “Maybe one was with us on Bocai. Maybe one was with you here.”
For a moment, Sandburg seemed desperately anxious to believe it. Then he shook his head and delivered the verdict with as much contempt as he could. “And maybe this is just you, seizing on any explanation that frees you from the ultimate responsibility for what you did.”
“I thought of that, too,” Cort said. “I just don’t believe it anymore.”
The black rage bubbled up in him, then, dispelling — at least for the moment — any remaining sense of defeat in his bearing. His face contorted in a grimace, his hands curled into fists, and he stood so suddenly that she winced, imagining imminent violence — but no; the nerve block was still in place. It was disgust and not bloodlust that had returned some semblance of power to his limbs. “Then I’m better than you, Counsellor. Because I know I did what I did, and I don’t look for excuses. If you must, you should listen to Rhaig and read a history book sometime. Because we don’t need Demons to act the way we act.”
“Maybe,” she said, facing his anger with an equally dangerous calm. “And the hell of it is, you’re almost certainly right. But from this moment on, my life’s about finding out one way or the other.”
She stood, and placed her hand on the scrambler device, resting her thumb on the activation switch, but not yet applying the miniscule degree of pressure that would once again allow Sandburg’s warders access to everything that was said and done in this room. She wanted to press it now; strictly speaking, she even should. But part of her resisted, knowing that once she did she’d have to return to the greater world outside, a place where she would be once again be infinitely more alone than she ever could be here, in the presence of another monster.
Sandburg, who perhaps sensed the same thing, and maybe even sympathized with her against his will, simply glared at her, waiting.
She smiled at him before she left, the same smile Whalekiller had seen and come to dread. And made her promise.
“When I do find them, I’m going to make damn sure they’re properly judged.”
Appendix:
Andrea Cort Chronology
The Andrea Cort stories are part of what I now call the “AIsource Infection” universe, which details a substantial alteration in the nature of humanity.
As the stories in this larger universe take place over a period of many years, and in fact begin approximately a century from now, some stories merely use this history as background and others are more important to the grander story being told. Andrea Cort is one woman whose life is especially touched by the critical events.
Most stories now being written take place at the beginning of her career. This chronology is current as of November 2017.
“With Unclean Hands” (ANALOG, November 2011) is likely to remain her first recorded adventure. She is still an unformed thing of very little personal influence, though this will change as it becomes clear to her superiors how very formidable she is.
“Tasha’s Fail-Safe” (ANALOG, April 2015) In this story, she is still suffering the political fallout from her extreme actions in “With Unclean Hands.”
“The Coward’s Option” (ANALOG, March 2016) Once again trusted enough to be sent on a mission, though she’s not expected to be much more than a rubber stamp. As frequently happens with Andrea, there are complications.
There is now a gap of several years, into which almost all new short fiction will be inserted. During these years she is continuing to work on various missions, some of which cement her ruthless reputation. She also zealously maintains her social isolation, a situation that will not improve for her until the novels.
Following the gap, we are introduced to her again with the first Andrea story I wrote, “Unseen Demons” (ANALOG July / August 2002), by which time she is a well-known controversial figure in the Diplomatic community, and widely recognized as a force to be reckoned with. In this story, she receives her mission in life, reaching the epiphany that leads into the trilogy of novels.
About a year later, she appears in the first novel, EMISSARIES FROM THE DEAD, which changes her status quo, changes her agenda yet again, and introduces her to the great love of her life, the linked man and woman with one personality, Oscin and Skye Porrinyard. They remain with her for the rest of the series so far.
This is followed by the second novel, THE THIRD CLAW OF GOD, in which she travels to the planet Xana and learns something she never suspected about her past.
The story finished yet still to be published, “A Stab Of The Knife” (ANALOG, 2018) takes place after she returns from Xana, and is in part driven by the relationships formed there. She in fact still has the very un-Andrea hairstyle she obtained in that novel, though she didn’t like it at the time; maybe the Porrinyards do.
The final Andrea Cort novel for now, WAR OF THE MARIONETTES, the one currently available in English only as an Audiobook, but planned for an upcoming e-book, wraps up the trilogy and ends with her making a very personal decision that will change her forever.
The novella “Hiding Place” (ANALOG, April 2011), takes place less than a year later and will likely remain the final Andrea Cort story chronologically, as it concludes with her facing significant changes. At this point Andrea Cort will either move on and become a completely different person, or will retreat from her personal growth and back off from its implications. I cannot move on from this point at shorter than novel length, and that is unlikely to occur unless things change spectacularly. (But there’s always talk.)
ALSO BY ADAM-TROY CASTRO
THE ANDREA CORT SERIES
Emissaries from the Dead
The Third Claw of God
War of the Marionettes (in Germany)
With Unclean Hands*
The Coward's Option*
Unseen Demons*
THE GUSTAV GLOOM SERIES
Gustav Gloom and the People Taker
Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault
Gustav Gloom and the Four Terrors
Gustav Gloom and the Cryptic Carousel
NOVELLAS, SHORT STORIES & COLLECTIONS
Vossoff and Nimmitz*
Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories
Night of the Living POTUS*
Fuel*
Sleeping Dogs*
HUMOR BOOKS
Z is for Zombie
V is for Vampire
*available as a Jabberwocky ebook
For a complete bibliography of all books and short stories, visit Adam-Troy Castro's website.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam-Troy Castro is the author of the Andrea Cort series, which includes the Philip K. Dick Award winning novel Emissaries from the Dead. His short fiction has been nominated for six Nebulas, two Hugos, and two Stokers. The novella “The Astronaut from Wyoming,” written in collaboration with Jerry Oltion, won the Japa
nese Seiun Award for Best Short Story in Translation. His twenty books also include Z is for Zombie and V is for Vampire, both of which were illustrated by Johnny Atomic, and the Grossett and Dunlap series. Adam lives in Miami with his wife Judi and three world-famous cats named Uma Furman, Meow Farrow, and Harley Quinn.
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