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He had also said, "If you are a Magistrate, family tradition and family honor are
all-important. Our entire discipline is based on it. I am also a man of pride, and I
must have what all men of pride must have vindication. Revenge for the
wrongs compounded upon my family name, my family honor."
Kane had no idea what wrongs his father had visited upon Salvo's family honor.
Only Salvo could tell him that, and he doubted they would ever again have an
opportunity for a face-to-face talk.
A breath of icy wind gusted up from the chasm, and Kane pulled his jacket
tighter around him. Winter came early to such high elevations and tended to
linger a very long time. In a couple of months, perhaps less than that, the
mountain road would be clogged with snow, tripling the difficulty for a curious
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somebody to make his way up from the flatlands.
He glanced up at the backdrop of gray sky. For a generation following the
nukecaust, the sky had been black twenty-four hours a day. The worldwide
atomic explosions had filled the atmosphere with inestimable tons of dust and
debris, severely diminishing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth. The
thirty-year-long nuclear winter, the skydark, had caused many of the survivors to
freeze to death in the long night.
Gradually the clouds of pulverized rubble had dispersed and settled, though
judging by the satellite pix, there were still places on the planet covered by the
residue of the nukecaust.
Kane often wondered just how many truly human people populated the earth, but
there was no way to hazard an accurate guess. Even the intelligence-gathering
apparatus of the villes couldn't learn with any certainty about what was
transpiring in the rest of the world. Radio waves wouldn't reach across the sea
because lingering radiation and atmospheric disturbances disrupted shortwave
bands.
If it could be determined that the Archon Directorate had not entrenched
themselves in Europe, the Near and Far East, he knew his resolve to fight would
be strengthened.
As it was, the resistance movement based in Cerberus seemed not only futile, but
downright ridiculous. He and Grant cooperated with Lakesh because they needed
to keep busy. Kane was introspective enough to know that the anger that had
motivated him thus far could not be sustained. Every day it required more effort
to fan the flames of rage. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he
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one day discovered he couldn't keep that spark blazing or worse, didn't want to
keep it blazing.
He heard a soft footfall behind him and he whirled, wrist tendons tensing, hand
ready to receive the Sin Eater that wasn't there.
"When you look into the abyss," Brigid said, "the abyss also looks into you."
Kane relaxed and watched Brigid approach him in her characteristically loose-
limbed, almost mannish stride. "Another quote from Lakesh?"
Even in the dim light, Brigid's eyes shone bright with humor and intelligence.
"Not this time. Nietzsche said that."
"Who's he? One of the guys down in maintenance?"
"He was a nineteenth-century philosopher. He also said, 'He who fights too long
against dragons, becomes himself a dragon.' "
Kane exhaled a plume of smoke. "Very appropriate, if you apply it to our
circumstances."
"He had an amazing intellect."
"What happened to him?" Kane asked gruffly.
"He died in a madhouse."
Kane was startled into laughing. "That's very appropriate, too. Except in our
case, the whole world is a madhouse."
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Brigid didn't return the laugh. "We're ready for the briefing."
Kane flicked the stub of the cigar over his shoulder toward the chasm. Its
glowing end descended like a tiny meteorite, until it disappeared in the depths
and the darkness. "Let's go, then. A good briefing is better than a good cigar
anytime."
Walking side by side across the plateau, Brigid said quietly, "I didn't have the
chance to thank you."
"Thank me for what?"
"Rescuing me."
"When?"
She sighed in irritation. "In the Gobi, remember? I know it was all of twelve
hours ago, but "
"Leather the sarcasm, Baptiste," Kane interrupted. "You're welcome. But my
main function, and Grant's, is to rescue the truly essential personnel of this place.
That's why Lakesh recruited us."
Brigid stopped abruptly. Kane walked on for a few paces before halting and
turning to face her. She stared at him silently. Kane asked, "What?"
"Why are you so bitter and angry all the time?" she demanded. "All of us are
equally important."
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Axler, James - Outlanders 02 - Destiny Run [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]