Simmons, Dan - Children of the Night by Simmons Dan

Author:Simmons, Dan
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

and inhuman scale of the place. Kate shivered. "And the guy we're seeing might know something about Joshua?"

Lucian shrugged. "My contacts say that Amaddi keeps tabs on the Nomenclature. He certainly serves their needs when they deal with the black market. It may be worth our time talking to him . . ." Lucian glanced at her.

"It's foolish for you to come along though, Kate. I can-"

"I want to talk to him," said Kate. Her tone left no room for debate.

Lucian shrugged again. He pointed out the University Medical School as they drove past it and they turned north again, past a row of dilapidated dormitories, then down a long alley lined with dark and decaying Stalinist apartment blocks. Ragged curtains blew from shattered windows, and there were holes in the masonry large enough for a person to step through. The rain had let up a bit and Kate could see large rats fleeing from the beam of the headlights. The entrance to the building they stopped in front of had a torn steel mesh dangling from the doorway.

"These are empty, aren't they?" asked Kate.

Lucian shook his head. "No, these are the Arab dormitories. "

Kate cranked down her window and could make out a feeble glow of what might be lantern light behind some of the tattered curtains.

Lucian pointed toward a lower building with no windows, its walls and single doorway spray-painted with graffiti. "That's the Student Union. Amaddi said that he would meet us there." .

There were no lights in the foyer or outside corridor. Lucian flicked on a lighter and Kate could make out chipped and filthy tile and an inner hallway almost filled with cardboard boxes and crates. Following Lucian as he squeezed past the crates, she realized that the boxes were marked PANASONIC and NIKE and SONY and LEVI'S. At the end of the corridor was a closed metal door. Lucian rapped twice, waited a second, and then rapped once. The door squeaked open and Lucian clicked the lighter shut and stepped aside to let Kate go first.

The room was large, at least twenty meters square, and the perimeter was stacked with more cartons and boxes.

Dining tables and plastic chairs lay tossed in a heap to one side, and only a single table with a lantern on it was set out near the far end of the room. The dark and bearded man who had opened the door for them gestured toward the table and stepped back into the shadows.

Three men sat at the table; two were obviously enforcer types-leather coats, necks broader than their skulls, flat stares-but the third was a small man with a poor excuse for a beard and acne scars visible even at a distance. He beckoned Kate and Lucian to the table.

"Sit," he said in English and waved them toward two folding chairs.

Kate remained standing.

"This is Amaddi," said Lucian. "He and I have . . . done business before."

The little man grinned, showing very white teeth. "A Sony Discman . . .

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