The old man stared at me, his smile frozen. After a moment he chambered another round, a nice little piece of theater to show just how little the fucker feared me. He let out a barking laugh, showing his strong, gleaming teeth.
“All right, Mr. Cates. All right. In your position I would insist on the same.”
I tried to hide the relief that hit me like a dose of cold water. “All right. What do we call you, then, if you’re not the one and only Cainnic Orel?”
He shrugged. “I think that name is as good as any, don’t you? Despite what this little turd says, as far as you know, I am the ‘one and only’ Cainnic Orel. Mr. Orel will do nicely.” This with a tight-lipped, smug grin that made me close my hands into fists. “I have one further condition, however: I am now part of your team.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?” To our right, a strident alarm blared, the sound bouncing off the walls. Kieth yelped and leaped up. Orel let him go.
Orel climbed to his feet, grinning. “You won’t give me any info, I have to hang around to protect my investment,” he shouted, somehow still sounding calm. “Put it this way, Cates. Say tomorrow night you get capped behind the ear, which is the most likely outcome of this little adventure. Would naturally put the chances that I’ll ever get my money in a dim light, no? As a result, I’d want to have the little cocksucker on his knees nice and quick. You see? If I’m not here, the little cocksucker might slip away again.”
“Cates!” Kieth yelled from his fortress of servers. He must have hit a switch, because the blaring alarms went to half-volume. “We have a problem!”
I glanced at Kieth, then back at Orel. “Okay. Give me twenty yen.”
He blinked. “What?”
“You fucked me out of twenty yen back there at the Dole. It’s part of your buy-in on this deal. Now, please.”
He laughed, reaching for his credit dongle. “You’re either totally incompetent or a genius, Cates.”
“Oh, he’s incompetent, all right,” Tanner said brightly. “Pretty soon he’ll tell you about the growing army of System Pigs who seem to always know where he is.”
“Cates!” Kieth yelled again.
I turned away from Orel as our transaction went through and walked briskly toward Kieth. “What, for God’s sake?”
The bald man was wide-eyed, his nose twitching fiercely. A fat drop of sweat was hanging impossibly from its tip, and it looked like fresh terror-sweat springing up on top of the dried residue of his previous cycle of terror and relief. “We have a visitor. Or visitors. Not sure yet.”
“I see.” I looked down at the floor for a moment, fists clenched. It never fucking lets up, I thought. This had been my whole life, one crisis after another. Where was I going to sleep, another gun pointed in my face, was someone going to try to slit my throat-it never ended. I spun to face the rest of them.
Words died in my mouth as a distant boom thundered through the building.
“Looks like they’re here!” Milton shouted. “I do hope they’re friendly!”
Orel breezed past me, guns in hand. “Looks like I’m earning my keep on this team of yours already,” he said with a wink, whirling around in midstride and walking backward. “With your permission, of course, boss.”
I stared at Orel. “Ty, who the fuck’s at the door?”
Kieth didn’t even look up from his video screens. “Monks.”
XXII
I’M GLAD THEY IGNORED MY SCREAMS OF PAIN
“Strange, strange, strange.”
I watched Orel disappear into the narrow corridor that led to the main entrance of the factory. “What’s strange? And for God’s sake, turn that goddamn alarm off.”
Kieth absent-mindedly made a complex gesture and the alarm cut off.
“There’s only one Monk.”
Milton appeared at my elbow. “What do we do, chief?”
I held up a hand and squinted at Kieth. “Just one? You’re sure?”
“Ty could spot a Monk the size of a mosquito out there, Mr. Cates. There’s just one. It’s moving… erratically.”
Milton spread her arms. “Cates? What’s the word?”
I looked around. “Hold tight,” I ordered. I spun around and found the sisters grinning at me. “Give me a gun.”
They both blinked, almost in unison. Their smiles faded a little.
“What?” said Tanner.
“Whatever piece-of-shit rod you overpaid for back in New York, hand it over.”
They glanced at each other, silent secret twin telepathy sizzling the air between them, and then Tanner reached around herself and extracted a piece from some hidden holster and extended it to me. I reached out in horrified fascination and accepted it.
I stared at the monstrosity “A revolver,” I said. “A goddamned revolver? Where did you even find this relic? Fuck, forget it.” The gun was impossibly heavy in my hand-I was used to the feather light alloys of the Roon-and I suspected the recoil might knock me on my ass. Assuming it didn’t just explode when I pulled the trigger. I turned to Milton. “Hold tight. Don’t move. We’re not being chased out of here by one Monk and a possible distress signal. Kieth!” The bald head whipped around toward me, his eyes wide. “Keep tabs on outside. Get on the PA and warn us if any more friends show up.”
Kieth nodded. “If any transmissions occur, Ty’ll see. Won’t be able to decode ‘em, but at least we’ll know the invites are out.”
I ran after Orel, trotting, the heavy, ancient gun held down by my hip, pointed to the floor. As I approached the main entrance, Orel’s arm shot out from the side wall and pulled me close. My arm came up automatically and put the barrel of the gun in his ribs.
“Cates,” he whispered, “you run like you’re angry at the ground. How old are you again? It’s amazing you’re still alive.”
I tried to control my panting. “A Monk. Just one.”
He loosened his grip. “Just one. It can’t be a rescue job on your prisoner back there, then. They’d send a dozen, two dozen.” He frowned. “Maybe it’s just snuffling around, caught our scent. Thinks it’ll try a group conversion.” He put one of his guns back in its holster. I admired the way the cut of his coat hid both holsters perfectly. “If it’s just a Monk, all it can do is bore us to death.”
I shook my head. “Don’t you fucking believe it, Orel. I’ve seen those things in action. They’re goddamned killing machines.”
His frown deepened. “What the fuck are you talking about? You know who joins the fucking Electric Church? Beggars, dope fiends, small-fry pickpockets. Desperate people starving on their feet-that’s who. You telling me some shitkicker with a tin body becomes a killing machine?”
“You don’t get it, Orel. That’s what Monks are. Doesn’t matter who they were.” I fished my wireless headset from my pocket and fitted it into one ear. “Ty? You with me?”
“Here, Cates,” his voice crackled. “It’s still out there, circling around. Looks like it’s probing our setup.” He cleared his throat, the sound painfully loud in my ear. “I bolted this place down electronically, Cates. Physically there are a dozen spots it could wriggle through.”
I relayed this to Orel, who shrugged, pulling his second gun out again. “Mr. Cates, the main rule of engagement in a deserted neighborhood like this is simple: Control the fucking situation. You don’t want the Tin Man out there coming in? Then stop hiding in here.” He pushed me away. “Open the fucking door.Let’s kick some ass.”
A booming, amplified voice tunneled through the wall, modulated, sweetened, and shatteringly loud.
“Avery Cates! Let me bring you to the end of time, Mr. Cates. Let me save you.” This was followed by a strange, scratchy noise that I slowly realized was laughter. “And by save you, Mr. Cates, I mean I’m going to eat your fucking kidneys, asshole!”