The Atrocity Engine (Custodians of the Cosmos Book 1) by Tim Waggoner

Author:Tim Waggoner [Waggoner, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2024-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

“What are we going to do with an Expungent grenade?” Gina asked.

Neal carried the device in his front pants pocket. Creech had told them it wouldn’t go off unless the last person to touch it – which was him – telepathically willed it, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like if the grenade did activate. He kept imagining a hundred gallons of Expungent shooting out of his pocket and flooding the area around them. It was like telling someone not to think of something, say a black cat, but no matter what you did, you couldn’t avoid thinking about one. The grenade didn’t explode, though, so it appeared he didn’t have to keep that tight a rein on his thoughts, which was a relief.

He realized then that Gina had spoken.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But it’s one more weapon we had than when we came in here.”

They were heading toward the exit, but Neal wasn’t in a hurry. He kept looking around at the various displays they passed, hoping to find something else that might be useful against one of the Multitude. While it was unlikely that he’d find anything, this was the Stygian Market. Just about anything could be bought here. If you could find it – and pay the price, of course.

“No offense, Neal, but it seems like our trip here was kind of a waste of time. We didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know, and we’ve got a weapon that we’re not sure is going to really do anything – at least against one of the Multitude.”

Neal was surprised to find himself feeling like he’d let Gina down. He’d hoped that at least she’d be impressed by the Stygian Market, and maybe she was, but if so, it wasn’t enough to offset her disappointment at how their shopping trip had turned out.

“We did get a couple Nullifiers, too,” he pointed out.

Neal carried his tucked into his right sock, hidden by his pants leg. Gina had concealed hers the same way, but he knew she wasn’t comfortable having a Nullifier since she wasn’t officially authorized to carry one.

When Gina didn’t reply, he went on.

“Creech didn’t know anything about the woman from the Multitude, and Creech knows everything. She must be extraordinarily powerful, even for one of her kind, in order to conceal her presence and activities from him.”

“It’s strange that she would go to such lengths to hide herself when she’s been operating so openly in Ash Creek,” Gina said. “Aren’t the Multitude supposed to work in secret for the most part, just like we do?”

“Yes. The woman we’re up against is likely a rogue, acting on her own, and that makes her doubly dangerous. The Multitude prefer to operate with a certain amount of restraint, but this woman doesn’t seem to have any.”

“When we were talking with Creech, why didn’t you want me to ask him about the pin he wearing?” Gina asked.

Damn it! Neal had hoped she’d forgotten about that.

“I don’t remember you saying anything about a pin.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.