Station, стр. 99
"How were you so sure you would win, that we wouldstill manage to fuck everything up?"
Rott shot Hadder a wry smile. "Because I molded youin my image, Marlin. As I have always fucked things up, I knew thatyou would follow in my footsteps."
"And what do you receive now that you've won?"
"A ticket home, of course."
As the truth slowly settled in, the Rage in Hadderbegan to bubble up once more, unable to accept the fact that theywere all merely pawns in a game played by the gods. Unable toaccept the fact that in their own ways, both Ego Rounds and TheKrown were correct. Hadder turned back to the sinking city. "Thenwhy are you still here, Rott? Why haven't you flown skyward, orwhatever it is you do to get back to Heaven?"
"Loose ends."
"Come again."
"There are some loose ends. Well, one loose end,really. There were stipulations of our bet, and one of them forcedme to kill all the residents of Station. Once our experiment wascomplete, God didn't want any of these test subjects returning tohis Earth to corrupt his stock."
Hadder spun back. "Viktor Krill."
"That's right. Viktor Krill. The one variable Ididn't see. I couldn't chase after him, with the experiment stillongoing. But nothing holds me back now. I will catch him. He willfeel my wrath. And I will earn my trip home."
Hadder's legs grew tired, his body still weakenedfrom the concussion and loss of blood. He sat on the sandy ground,looked up at Albany Rott. "Rott, what am I doing here?"
"The Lethe River passes under the city walls andcomes out in a cave just over that hill. It's too far for a humanto make the trip without drowning, but these problems are not mine.I took you out via that path, using some tricks to keep youalive."
Hadder's head dropped into his lap. "No. I mean,what am I doing here? Alive. This is the third, no fourth orfifth time I should have died. Why are you keeping me alive? I'm sotired. So very tired."
Rott walked over to Hadder, hovered above him. "Iempathize with you, Marlin. I really do. I, who have lived here onEarth for a millennium, understand more than anyone the exhaustionthat accompanies extreme living. For countless years, I havededicated my existence to returning home, ignoring relationships,and caring nothing for enjoyment. And now that my time on thisEarth is drawing to a close, I want to make up for lost time, haveone last adventure that's driven by excitement and fun as much asend goals. And I don't want to do it alone, Marlin. I've been alonefor too long now. I'm tired of talking to myself."
Hadder looked up into Albany Rott's crimson eyes."You're telling me that the Devil wants a buddy?"
"I never cared for that term, or any others thathave been bestowed upon me. I have had many names over the years.But right now, yes, Albany Rott needs a friend."
"Why me?"
"I don't know, but I have felt it since discoveringyou by accident. You have the Rage, but it is tempered by kindness.You can bend like a reed in the wind, or you can dig in and holdyour ground against tremendous forces. You value life now but areunafraid of death. I think we can have some good times together,really shake the pillars of Earth. Give those boring cunts up theresomething to really talk about. What do you say?"
Rott held his hand out to Hadder, reminiscent ofanother time, in another life. Hadder took his hand, was quicklylifted to his feet. Together, the two men stood and watched as thecity called Station continued its descent into the desert. As thelast of the city disappeared into the sand, a cry of "Father" cutthrough the barren land. The Caesar Cal was still alive as Stationvanished forever.
Hadder looked over to Rott and was surprised to seea single black tear fall from his eye. Rott wiped it with the backof his too-white hand and clapped Hadder on the shoulder. Haddernoticed that the man still had his crystalline axes tucked intothis belt. "We should get a move on. This desert can be tricky toescape, even for me."
"Where are we going," asked Hadder as the pair beganto walk.
"To find Viktor Krill. He'll be hard to locate andharder to kill."
"How will we find him?"
"Simple, really. We'll just follow the shadow ofblood."
Hadder accepted the vague explanation and walked on.As the sadness of his friends' deaths began lessening with eachstep, his excitement for the dawning of a new adventure began torise. But if man and fallen angel were going to spend significanttime together, the two would need to increase their capacity forsmall talk. Not everything could be life and death, Heaven andHell, philosophy and theology. He decided to move forward with afirst attempt. "Rott?"
"Call me Albany or Al."
"Ok. Tell me, Al, since we've got a lot of time onour hands, how'd you get that nasty scar on your face."
Al's face didn't change as he marched on. "Well,Marlin, when you get struck down from Heaven, it tends to leave amark."
Hadder sighed, understanding that on this next, mostthrilling adventure, one that would find him rubbing shoulders witha god, small talk would be hard to come by. So be it, hethought as they crossed the seemingly endless desert. Marlin Hadderhad died twice and welcomed a third. With Death sitting on hisshoulder and the Devil walking in his shadow, Hadder was sure thatthe future would be anything but boring.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jarrett Brandon Earlysplits time between Virginia Beach, VA and Thailand. He lives withhis wife Natthicha and daughter Alexandra Beam. He is hard at workon two sequels to Station – The Rott Inertia and Ill Messiah. Learnmore and contact him at www.jarrettbrandonearly.com/.