[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
puddles of muddy water, he always tried to make sure those puddles held no
particular expression. His hair was cut very short, and in places the scalp showed
through. He noticed a few gray strands that hadn't been there three months
before.
There were also new lines etched across his forehead. The lines were bisected by
a livid, ragged scar running from his hairline almost to the brow of his left eye.
The scar was three months old, too. The laceration dealt him by Kane had been
easier to mend than his teeth. Ashamed of his dentures, he now practiced
speaking with a minimum of lip movement. He had Kane to thank for that new
habit, as well.
Abrams, the Magistrate administrator, had been seriously injured by Kane, too.
He was still convalescing and Salvo had assumed, as senior Mag officer, he
would take his place not only in admin, but occupy his position in the Trust.
file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/James%20Axler%20-%20Outlanders%2002%20-%20Destiny%20Run.html (65 of 368)16-2-2006 16:57:47
Axler, James - Outlanders 02 - Destiny Run
Three months had passed, and he had yet to hear from Baron Cobalt about a new
position. In fact, he had yet to hear from Baron Cobalt about anything.
On the one hand, Salvo understood he had failed the baron. He had inducted
Kane into the Trust, and Kane had turned on them, escaped the ville and
assaulted the baron himself. Though no specific orders had come down from the
top level, Salvo knew he was charged with the responsibility of apprehending
two of his best Magistrates and Brigid Baptiste, the archivist. But in the past
three months there had been no rumors of them, not even a case of mistaken
identity in the Outlands. It was as if the three people had never existed.
A madness born of frustration and fear sometimes gripped him. Frequently an
imagined pounding on his door woke him from a fitful sleep. Was the baron
simply waiting for an opportune moment to serve a termination warrant on him,
to convene a disciplinary tribunal or to quietly exile him to the Outlands? Was
Baron Cobalt playing some sadistic game with him, allowing him to relax, to
believe that all was well, and then stretch out his hand to snuff out his life?
Salvo sighed, tried to focus his mind on a plan of action, but past events crowded
their way forward. He knew how Kane, Grant and Baptiste had disappeared
through the mat-trans unit the Trust had been foolish enough to place in the
Mesa Verde slaghole.
To where they had disappeared was still the outstanding question. All of the
functioning gateways had been checked, their records showing no indication of
use, authorized or otherwise.
Somehow the three renegades had appeared in the Dulce installation, which
file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/James%20Axler%20-%20Outlanders%2002%20-%20Destiny%20Run.html (66 of 368)16-2-2006 16:57:47
Axler, James - Outlanders 02 - Destiny Run
therefore left open only a single possibility they were transiting through a
gateway not listed as active. Wherever the mat-trans unit was located, its
quantum energies had been altered, by means unknown, so they couldn't be
traced back to the jump point. And that meant they had the help of someone or
several someones intimately familiar with the workings of the devices.
Salvo wasn't familiar with the intricacies of the gateways. He doubted there were
a dozen people in any of the villes who were. Baptiste was, since she had delved
into the Totality Concept database, but it didn't seem logical she had learned
more than the basics.
The Preservationists would serve as a variety of culprits for a variety of crimes,
but Salvo wasn't really certain they existed. They were straw adversaries,
convenient for accusations and convictions of treachery and sabotage. A vast
number of people had been executed for being Preservationists, but no hard
proof of their existence had ever been forthcoming. Apparently they wanted to
throw off the current serious restrictions on individuals, and were supposedly
searching for historical background to the nuke war. Not that the order ruling
them didn't have its opponents, he thought.
Salvo's suspicions focused primarily on one man old Lakesh, the head of the
Historical Division, and Baptiste's direct supervisor. He was also a fellow Trust
member, an untouchable, one of Baron Cobalt's pets.
Salvo knew nothing about Lakesh, could find out nothing about Lakesh, because
he was under the baron's protection. All Salvo knew was that Lakesh frequently
disappeared for days on end, and didn't have to account for his missing time. His
quarters were not equipped with the regulation spy-eye, and he enjoyed
file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/James%20Axler%20-%20Outlanders%2002%20-%20Destiny%20Run.html (67 of 368)16-2-2006 16:57:47
Axler, James - Outlanders 02 - Destiny Run
unlimited access to the baron's delicately shaped ears.
All he knew about Lakesh was that the old man knew far more than he about the
Archon Directorate and the hybridization program. From his years in the Trust,
Salvo had gleaned a few nuggets of half-digested truths predark theorists had
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]