Station, стр. 74

PART THREE:

An Inevitability Called the Fall

CHAPTER 22

"Mister Rott won't let that happen. TheCaesars won't let that happen. They've always protected us, and Idon't see why that would change."

Hadder threw his arms up in exasperation and readiedsome harsh words for Blindman Stu, the resident leader of a Clusterjust west of The Royal Jelly. Hadder was stopped, however,by Royal Winter's gentle arm on his shoulder, selecting instead tostare daggers into Blindman's white eyes. Blind when he came toStation, Stuart Jenkins was gifted both his nickname and his sightby the city. Obviously, he felt a tremendous obligation to Station,but not enough to bleed and shed blood for it.

Royal put Hadder's thoughts into kinder words. "Youwere at the Great Duel, Blindman. You saw, with those fantastic neweyes of yours, the numbers the Risers now have. You saw thestrength and brutality of The Krown. Did you know that since theGreat Duel, Riser numbers have continued to grow? Our way life isat dire risk. If we don't do anything, we'll all be welcoming asecond death shortly."

Blindman's white eyes moved between the two menmaking appeals. Although his sight had been restored, Blindman haschosen to keep the dead look of his eyes. Perhaps he was still deadinside, as well. He retorted, "No ten men, twenty men, can best aCaesar; they're demigods. And Mister Rott will never let his cityfall; I refuse to think otherwise."

Even Royal now was becoming annoyed. "Blindman, theCaesars were created to manage a few bad apples, not truckloads ofthem. Soon, the Risers will have the numbers and the unity theyneed to overpower even our colossal defenders. And as for MisterRott, I don't know that he cares for the city in the way that heonce did. Perhaps he is simply waiting for its destruction, usingits fall as an excuse to move on to other things."

Blindman's face remained impassive; he wasn'thearing anything Royal had to say. "Well, I thank you, gentlemen,for stopping by. I understand your concerns; I really do. Butsometimes in this world, you have to have a little faith. I chooseto put my faith in Mister Rott and the Caesars. They've yet to letme down."

Hadder and Royal walked away dejected. It had beenfive Solays since the Great Duel, and they had failed to reach evenone significant resident leader. All wanted to go blindly abouttheir lives, oblivious to the storm clouds forming in the East.Royal tried to offer some hope. "Well, the word is there's stillfighting in South Rising. Looks like a lot of Ego's people aren'tjust gonna turn the keys over to The Krown."

"I'm sure Kamaria is putting up a hell of aresistance. But that just buys us time, not absolution. And rightnow, we're doing exactly jack shit with the time she's givingus."

"So, what do we do, Hadder?"

Hadder sighed deeply, bemoaning what he was about tosay. "We're gonna have to wait for someone to die. Someonebig."

Marlin Hadder and Lilly Sistine laid together in thecomfort of a free-standing hammock erected in the lawn of TheRoyal Jelly. As they swung slowly late in the Haela, theywatched the iridescent insects and glowing flowers play theircolorful games in one of the gardens that bordered the Bar. Lillywas exhausted, having delivered an especially powerful musicalperformance on stage hours prior. Water-filled eyes peppered theaudience as she concluded the concert with Otis Redding's "Pain inMy Heart." Now she rested, floating in and out ofconsciousness.

"Marlin?"

"Yes?"

"You think I'm good enough to make it in theBefore?"

"I think the world wouldn't even know what to dowith a talent such as yours, Lilly. I think you would set the musicscene on fire."

"Yeah, but I guess we'll never know for sure,right?" Her voice sounded far away, as if coming from a dream.

"I think you're just going to have to take my wordfor it."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"But the world's loss is Station's gain. Your voicebrings so much joy to so many residents. You really enrich oursecond lives."

Lilly nuzzled her face into Hadder's neck. "Thanks."Then she drifted back to sleep.

Hadder and Glenn continued their trek through thecity, making a note of possible defensive positions, resources tobe utilized, and locations for potential ambushes, all whilespreading the word - war is coming.

The Solay was quickly drawing to a close, with thetwo men having already swept south to take account of the Weep, theNew Age Cluster, and another unnamed Cluster before hitting theSkirt and turning back north. The men kept a nervous eye to theEast as they walked, waiting for berserkers to tear across theSkirt with mean-looking blades and angry hearts. And while noneappeared, the spiraling smoke columns and occasional screams showedthat the Rising was still far from a peaceful, unifiedterritory.

From the south, Hadder and Glen eventually marchedinto the Celebration Cluster, which was just beginning to fill withlife. Celebration residents moved quickly from Hadder's approach,fearful of the man who had entered the Rising with nothing andreturned with a head - a head that he mounted in front of theposhest Bar in the area. Hadder ignored them and went about hiswork, making comments to Glen and taking in the older man'sinsightful opinions.

"What about Inferno," asked Glen as theypassed the red monstrosity. "High vantage point, only a couple ofentrances, strong foundation."

Although Hadder barely looked at the rose-coveredbuilding, he could still make out the human marionette hangingabove the entrance doors, lording over her small, insignificantdominion. "Let the Risers have it if it comes to that. And if theydon't burn it down, I'll do it my goddam self."

Glen began to formulate a retort, complete withlogic and practicality but stopped when he noticed the smolderingin Hadder's eyes, a nugget of heat that threatened to become awildfire. "Fair enough. Let it burn. Jackie Crone won't even haveto change the sign."

As they rounded the corner