2176 - Book 05 by The Scarlet Empress # Susan Grant

Author:The Scarlet Empress # Susan Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-12-19T13:08:22+00:00

It was full dark now. Though they contained technology beyond anything in the twenty-first century, the streetlights designed to resemble lanterns cast the Serpent Quarter in a charming glow—atmosphere it probably needed to lend an aura of intrigue. It was one of those areas that by day would appear seedy, but by night glamorous, in a 1940s Casablanca sort of way.

It took a while to get used to the billboard buildings. That was the only term Cam could think of to explain it. Entire sides of buildings could, in the blink of an eye, explode in a rainbow of colors, or melt into three-dimensional scenes, or, as was most common, burst into news and advertisements. They were like old Internet pop-up ads you couldn’t run away from. But as she walked deeper into the Serpent Quarter, the buildings became older, and the perfectly paved streets more rutted. Atmosphere, she reminded herself.

She ignored the constant barrage of media lighting up almost all available flat, vertical surfaces. Hunching her shoulders against the chill, she drew her leather coat around herself and turned the collar up. She probably should have worn one of the hats she had seen in her closet. All the women had them—ranging from jaunty little caps to enormous flying-saucer affairs. And they weren’t plain old hats, either. They glowed, and played music, or the news, or looked like mini versions of the media-playing buildings. Capitalism was alive and well in this kingdom; she wouldn’t doubt some of these women were being paid to carry advertisements as fashion statements.

Cam stopped on a street corner to consult her map. There were streets, but no traffic on them other than pedestrian. Cars were restricted to the magroads and electric freeways. Above her head, a virtual air force of sleek jets crisscrossed the sky, taking off and landing vertically from the tops of nearby buildings.

“Headed out for the evening?” asked a pleasant male voice.

Cam spun around. The man looked familiar. She squinted at him in the glow of the streetlight. “Minister Hong?”

“Horace.” He smiled and placed his hands behind his back. He wasn’t in his official government outfit but an elegant suit. And it was not the kind of clothing one would wear to the Serpent Quarter, if she actually knew what kind of clothing one wore to an area that looked like… this.

“Horace, yes. What a surprise to see you here.”

“And you. Do you have plans to stay out for the evening?”

“It was getting a little boring in the palace.” As an afterthought, she added, “Waiting for Prince Kyber to decide he wants to see me. Are you sure you can’t get me in to talk to him?”

Hong flashed white teeth. “Why don’t we discuss it over a drink?”

Why don’t we not, she thought. Hong was a handsome, elegant man of Chinese ancestry; he’d been nothing but polite to her, but there was something about him tonight that made her want to walk in the opposite direction. Very fast.

She fought the urge to check her watch.

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