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fabulous lode had formed. Frog fought it, but believed. He wanted to believe. He had to believe. This was what he had given his life to find. He was rich . . . The practicalities began to occur to him when the euphoria wore off. Radioactivity would have to be overcome. Six kilometers of mantle would have to be penetrated. A way to beat the sun would have to be found because the lode was centered beyond the Shadowline s end . . . Mining it would require nuclear explosives, masses of equipment, legions of shadow generators, logistics on a military scale. Whole divisions of men would have to be assembled and trained. New technologies would have to be invented to draw the molten magma from the earth . . . His dreams, like smoke, wafted away along the long, still corridors of eternity. He was Frog. He was one little man. Even Blake did not have the resources to handle this. It would take a decade of outrageous capitalization, Page 21 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html with no return, just to develop the needed technologies. Damn! he snarled. Then he laughed. Well, you was rich for one minute there, Frog. And it felt goddamned good while it lasted. He had a thought. File a claim anyway. Maybe someday somebody ll want to buy an exploitation franchise. No, he thought. No way. Blake was the only plausible franchisee. He was not going to make those people any richer. He would keep the whole damned thing behind his chin. But it was something to think about. It really was. Piqued by the futility of it all, he ordered his computer to lock out any memories relating to the lode. Eleven: 3031 AD Cassius stepped into the study. Mouse remained behind him. You wanted me? Storm cased the clarinet, adjusted his eyepatch, nodded. Yes. My sons are protecting me again, Cassius. Uhm? Cassius was a curiosity in the family. Not only was he second in command, he was both Storm s father-in-law and son-in-law. Storm had married his daughter Frieda. Cassius s second wife was Storm s oldest daughter, by a woman long dead. The Storms and their captains were bound together by convolute, almost incestuous relationships. There s a yacht coming in, Storm said. A cruiser is chasing her. Both ships show Richard s IFF. The boys have activated the mine fields against them. Cassius s cold face turned colder still. He met Storm s gaze, frowned, rose on his toes, said, Michael Dee. Again. And my boys are determined to keep him away from me. Cassius kept his counsel as to the wisdom of their effort. He asked, He s coming back? After kidnapping Pollyanna? He has more gall than I thought. Storm chuckled. He killed it when Cassius frowned. Right. It s no laughing matter. Pollyanna Eight was the wife of his son Lucifer. They had not been married long. The match was a disaster. To understate, the girl was not Lucifer s type. Lucifer was one of Storm s favorite children, despite his efforts to complicate his father s life. Lucifer s talents were musical and poetic. He did not have the good sense to pursue them. He wanted to be a soldier. Storm did not want his children to follow in his footsteps. His profession was a dead end, an historical/social anomaly that would soon correct itself. He saw no future or glamour in his trade. But he could not deny the boys if Page 22 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html they chose to remain with the Legion. Several had become key members of his staff. Of the men who had created the Legion only a handful survived. Grim old Cassius. The spooky brothers Wulf and Helmut Darksword. A few sergeants. His father, Boris, and his father s brothers and brothers of his own William, Howard. Verge, and so many more all had found their deaths-without-resurrection. The family aged and grew weaker. And the enemy behind the night grew stronger . . . Storm grunted. Enough of this. He was becoming the plaything of his own obsession with fate. He s bringing her back, Cassius. Storm, smiled secretively. Pollyanna was an adventuress. She had married Lucifer more to get close to men like Storm than out of any affection for the poet. Michael had had no trouble manipulating her unsatisfied lust for action. But, you see, when he added it all up he was more scared of me than he thought. I caught up with him on The Big Rock Candy Mountain three weeks ago. We had a long talk, just him and me. I think the knife did the trick. He s vain about his face. And he still worries about Fearchild. Mouse did his best to remain small. His father s gaze had passed over him several times, a little frown clicking on and off each time. There would be an explosion eventually. You? Tortured? Dee? Cassius could not express his incredulity as a sentence. You re sure this isn t something he s cooked up to boost his ratings? Storm smiled. His smile was a cruel thing. Mouse did not like it. It reminded him that his father had a side that was almost inhuman. Centuries together, Cassius. And still you don t understand me. Of course Michael has an angle. That s his nature. And why do you think torture is out [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |