Inferno! A Warhammer 40,000 Collection by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Author:Adrian Tchaikovsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2021-10-15T10:57:55+00:00

CITY OF BLOOD

Matt Smith

The barmaid just took a shotgun to a man’s guts. The smell of blood soon mixed with the damp in the air. The bar’s patrons jumped and turned to check that no one was pointing a weapon at them then went back to their drinks. They had been startled, but not surprised. The victim’s friends drew weapons of their own but were swiftly set upon by a pair of gene-bulked bouncers who had rushed in from the entrance and beat them to the ground.

Jesca watched all this through the half-light of flickering lumen globes hanging from the low ceiling. She sat in the darkness at the back of the room drinking something that tasted like dirty water and fermented cado root. More bodies, drunks and mutants, piled into the brawl and isolated fights broke out seemingly spontaneously around her as more patrons took the opportunity to settle their own petty grievances. The room was soon filled with a cacophony of shouts and the dull thudding of fists against flesh. Jesca pressed herself back into the shadows and willed herself to be invisible but it was already too late for that.

There was a man at the bar. He was tall, broad-shouldered, healthy. No average underhiver for sure. He wore leather armour and carried mismatched autopistols holstered on each thigh. A mercenary maybe, Jesca thought, but something didn’t fit. He sat too straight and his hair was shaved too neatly, short at the sides and flat on top – a military cut. He’d seen her too. He tried to be subtle about it but she had noticed. His eyes flicked all around the room but always back to her. Who was he? Did he live here? She hadn’t seen him here before, and was that sunburn on the end of his nose? That was wrong, very wrong. Definitely an outsider, but then who had sent him?

Should she run? No, she had been down here too long to get sloppy now. How long had it even been? Too long already, and if she wanted to get out she had to stick to the plan. Wait for the signal.

‘Here you are, lady,’ the barmaid appeared through the crowd, shotgun casually resting against her shoulder, and set down a glass of murky red-brown liquid.

‘What is this?’ Jesca asked. She sneered as she held the glass up to inspect it.

‘We call it a slick shiv. Seems you have an admirer. Enjoy.’

This was the signal and not a moment too soon. Shiv was a code word she had agreed with her contact. It confirmed the location of their meeting. She looked back towards the suspicious man but he had moved. Jesca’s eyes flicked through the crowd until they caught sight of him again.

A part of her had known this would happen but she had hoped that part was wrong. She couldn’t hide. Now was the time to run. She could try to slip out before he reached her. That way she’d get out of the bar but he would soon realise she was gone and pursue her.

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