Last Legion - 02 Firemask by Chris Bunch

Author:Chris Bunch [Bunch, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-03-23T15:02:20+00:00

"Nobody's tried to kill my fun-loving CO lately, either."

The Eckmuhl was�had been�the 'Raum ghetto in Leggett for centuries. When their revolt moved back into the cities, after being nearly obliterated in the countryside, the Eckmuhl became the center of resistance. The planned general rising, unintentionally set off early by Yoshitaro and Jaansma, had gone awry. The Movement had been destroyed, along with most of the Eckmuhl. After the war, PlanGov had been bludgeoned into building low-cost housing for the 'Raum, which now crept over the hills north and east behind the walled enclave. Many 'Raum, particularly the younger ones, gladly fled the tenements and squalor.

But the Eckmuhl still held close to a hundred thousand people. Some lived in their undamaged if rickety apartments, some had cleared ruins and rebuilt, others lived in the wreckage itself. Life continued, vibrant, loud, vital.

Garvin Jaansma, uncomfortable in civilian clothes with body armor underneath, growled to his exec: "In case you haven't noticed, I fit in here like a square widget. I'm neither brown, short nor do I express myself normally above 160db(A). You, on the other hand�"

"Don't be racist," Njangu said, "sir. Or I'll nark you off as� as what did they call us?"

"The Rentiers' lapdogs," Garvin said morosely. "Hah. We weren't that well paid. Still aren't. So who are we looking for?"

"I think I know," Njangu said. "And I'll even give you a clue. The person is the greatest survivor we know."

"Impossible," Garvin said. "I'mthe greatest survivor I know. And I didn't send any messages for some sort of goddamned meeting in the rubble." He wiped sweat. "Those walls don't let any sea breeze through at all, do they?"

Njangu's eyes were darting here, there, across the square at the collapsed building. They'd found a drink cart and stayed under the shade of its umbrella, sucking down iced carbonated, limed water and waiting. Both men kept the glasses in their off hands, favored hands hovering near barely-hidden gun butts.

"It's midday and half-gone," Garvin said. "Shall we write off our friend?"

"Nope," Njangu said. "Her security's eyeballing us right now. Come on. Let's stroll over into ground zero, so they've got no chance of missing."

Garvin set his glass on the vendor's counter, dropped a bill without looking at it, realized from the vendor's grateful babble he should've, and followed Njangu out into the blazing sun. He, too, made the waiting gunmen. There were three of them, each watching a different byway, once streets, now curling through high-piled rubble.

"I'd call this fifty meters� and here she comes," Njangu said.

From a narrow alley, a woman walked unhurriedly toward them.

"I should've guessed," Garvin said.

"You should've," Njangu said. "Good afternoon, Councilor Poynton."

Jo Poynton nodded a greeting.

"Even though I owe you two my life, I'm still not sure whether I like you or not."

Njangu shrugged.

"We don't have time to worry about the past. What's done is done."

"You're right. I apologize," she said.

"Forget about it," Njangu said amiably.

"Now that the love affair has picked up with all its old ardor," Garvin said,

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.