Station, стр. 77
"What are we going to do about the body?"
"We? Nothing. My brothers will be here soon to helpme take it away."
"Can you trust them?"
"No. But they are my brothers."
Any illusions that Marlin Hadder had about theCaesars moving the body of one of their own without attractingattention were dispelled early the following Solay when LillySistine, returning from breakfast, burst into their shared livingquarters, waking him from a restless sleep.
"Oh my god, Marlin. Did you hear? Did you hear?"
Hoping for a miracle, Hadder decided to feignignorance. "Hear what?"
"They killed a Caesar. I mean, really. They actuallymanaged to kill a Caesar. If they can do that, then what hope isthere for us?"
Hadder needed to understand how much the generalpopulace actually knew. "Wait, wait. Calm down. Tell me. Who killeda Caesar?"
Lilly looked ready to explode from Hadder'sperceived stupidity. "Who killed a Caesar? Who do you think? Thefucking Risers killed a Caesar, that's who!"
Despite Lilly's hysteria, Hadder was encouraged bythe fact that the residents, much like himself, had not entertainedthe idea that another Caesar could have committed the murder. TheRisers were a known entity, a defined enemy. Although terrifying,illicit killings were expected of them. A group of Caesars,however, turning oversized weapons on residents of the Setting,would be too much for the populace to bear.
Hadder wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Ok, well,they're obviously starting to test the Skirt. But this will causethe Caesars to tighten up. They won't be caught off guard again."The lies flowed like cheap gas station wine.
Tears welled in Lilly's cognac eyes. "Marlin, I'mscared."
Hadder motioned her over, buried her in a hug,whispered what she needed to hear. As the sweet words came out ofhis mouth, however, his mind went to other places, combing throughpotential strategies. If the residents were previously willing torely on the Caesars for protection, perhaps Hadder could leveragethe death of Galba to spur the Setters into action.
As he silently laid out the words he would use topersuade resident leaders, Hadder's bare shoulder grew wet fromLilly's Sistine's warm tears.
CHAPTER 23
Hadder listened as Royal did the talking.Tired of traveling across the city to meet one-on-one with residentleaders, often in vain, Royal had called a meeting of a selectgroup of Setters at The Royal Jelly. Royal wisely held themeeting late in the Solay so attendees could simply stay put andcatch the Bar's upcoming concert, where the increasingly popularLilly Sistine would blow the audience's collective minds. Hadderstood to the side, arms crossed over his chest, his opinion of theaverage resident diminishing by the comment.
"It should be clear by now," said Royal to theleaders in attendance, "Although the Caesars are still our mostformidable resource, they're not invincible gods as many of you hadhoped. There have now been two Caesars who have met untimely fatesat the hands of Risers. Will we let them fight our battle alone?Will we allow them to get picked off one by one until there are noguardians of the Skirt? Will we let the Risers take their time,crossing over the Skirt unencumbered when the time is right?
"The Caesars against the Risers is not a fair fight.The Setters against the Risers is not a fair fight. But ourcombined might, fighting together shoulder-to-shoulder, might beenough to turn the tables, allowing us to win this upcoming war andprotect the lives that we have worked so hard to rebuild. In thiscity that is ours!"
There was some applause from the gathered audience,but not enough for Hadder's liking. Had anyone but Hadder known theactual cause of Galba's death, there would be no applause, onlysoft weeping from both men and women. What else did these peopleneed to see?
Things were moving quickly now, at least on theRiser side of things. In addition to the death of a Caesar, therewere reported attacks along the Skirt. Risers were sneaking throughCaesar defenses to wreak momentary havoc before returning to thesafety of the Rising. While most assumed it was merely the resultof increasing attempts, Hadder wondered if something much moresinister was afoot. Hadder wondered if perhaps some Caesars wereletting Risers through, aiding them in their terrorist efforts.
Equally worrying was the continued trend of Settersdefecting to the Rising, eschewing their soft lives for those ofhardened warriors. The overarching thinking of these individualsmust have been that it's better to be a heartless raider than aliteral heartless corpse.
Hadder sighed deeply as Royal continued to work thecrowd. Although they were slowly gaining support, it would be toolittle, too late at this rate.
"How's it looking," asked Lilly as she came upbeside Hadder.
"Grim. It's not easy convincing anyone to fight,much less a group that has been atrophying for years - no work, noresponsibility, no struggles. And now we want them to get out oftheir comfy beds and step into the fire. They're gonna needsomething extreme to wake them from this eternal dream."
"And the death of a Caesar wasn't enough?"
"Apparently, for some, but not for most."
"Then what do they need?"
"I wish I knew."
"Marlin." Hadder looked down into her sweet eyes,saw the fear and sadness there. "Are we going to die?"
Hadder tried to find the words to comfort her. Hewanted nothing more than to do just that at that moment. But whenhis hands raked through the sands of reassuring sentences, theycame out empty. "I don't know, my love. But I'm going to doeverything I can to prevent that."
"I don't want to die again; the first time almostkilled me."
Hadder looked back to the resident audience, unableto hold her desperate gaze. "Yeah, me neither. But I'm not goingback to the Before as a goddam angel of vengeance, either. So, I'mgoing to fight."
Pressed close against him, Hadder could feel Lilly'sbody deflate a bit, as if the last bit of hope for a peacefulresolution slipped through her slim fingers. "I need to get readyfor the show."
Hadder, his attention squarely fixed on a residentleader who was speaking to Royal, simply nodded absently. LillySistine slipped away like a ghost, floating backstage to get readyfor her performance.
"How's he