want to keep the Chojiros waiting.'
He set off down the stairs, Ruby right behind him. Storm wrapped himself in his great cloak to protect himself from the worst of the heat only slowly dissipating in the stairwell, and went after them.
They went cautiously but met no resistance. No more troops, no booby traps, no guns hidden in the walls. Just the metal steps, falling away before them. Random grew increasingly wary and gripped his gun and sword so tightly his fingers ached. This wasn't the Clan Chojiro he remembered, with a trap for every choice of action, a trip for every footstep, and layer upon layer of treachery and deceit. Such easy going could only mean the Chojiros wanted him to reach them. Which in turn could only mean they had something really unpleasant and devastating in store for him. Random grinned his wolfish smile. It didn't matter what they had, or thought they had; nothing was going to stop him now.
They reached the foot of the stairs and carefully approached the blank metal door that led off to the next floor. Everything was still and quiet. Ruby peered over the railings and down the stairwell, in case there were troops waiting below, but the stairwell was empty for as far as she could see. Random studied the door and the walls around it carefully, but couldn't detect any booby traps. He was pretty sure he would have been able to sense anything wrong or out of place, but he still felt a small but definite sense of relief when he turned the door handle and eased the door open, and nothing nasty happened. He gestured for Ruby to join him, and she moved in beside him without making a sound, her gun at the ready. Random counted to three silently, then they both hit the door together and stormed into the next floor. Storm right behind them. A quick glance around assured Random there were no troops waiting, and no obvious traps; just a man and a woman standing together, waiting to greet their visitors with ostentatiously empty hands.
BB Chojiro and Gregor Shreck.
BB was a petite doll of a woman, with long dark hair and sharp oriental features. She wore a kimono of bright scarlet, wrapped tightly in all the right places. It was easy to see why Julian Skye had once fallen in love with her. The Shreck, on the other hand, was a short fat butterball of a man, with a bulging fleshy face and deep-set eyes. A tricky, dangerous, vindictive man, by all accounts.
Random moved slowly forward, stopping carefully out of reach of the Chojiro or the Shreck. Ruby and Storm moved in on either side of him, guns trained. BB Chojiro bowed deeply to them. Gregor managed a stiff nod.
'Who the hell are these people?' said Ruby, not bothering to lower her voice.
'I do wish you'd keep up on the briefings,' said Random, not taking his eyes off the two before him. 'The woman speaks for the Chojiros in negotiations, and the like. She's also Blue Block, though we're not supposed to know that.'
'Perhaps she wants to negotiate the Clan's surrender,' said Storm.
Ruby frowned. 'Would you accept it. Jack?'
'Not a chance in hell,' said Jack Random, his voice flat and cold as death. 'They've got nothing I want more than their destruction. You ought to recognize Gregor Shreck at least, Ruby. Chief slimeball in a totally disreputable Clan. Rebel when it suits him, but always a member of the Families.'
'Toby's uncle?'
'That's the one.'
'Oh yeah, I've heard of him. I'll toss you for who gets first hack at him.'
'Oh no you won't,' said Random. 'I've seen that double-headed coin of yours.'
'If we do end up negotiating something, please leave the talking to me,' said Storm. 'You two could talk your way out of a lottery win. I have experience in this sort of thing.'
'There isn't going to be any negotiating,' said Random. 'I've waited a long time to bring down Clan Chojiro. The Shreck is just a bonus.'
'Let them speak,' said Storm. 'What harm can it do?'
'If nothing else,' said Ruby, 'they might tell us where the rest of the Chojiros are hiding out. Or where they've hidden the valuables.'
Random nodded curtly. BB Chojiro smiled charmingly at her three visitors. It had no obvious effect, but she kept smiling anyway.
'Welcome, honored guests. Please excuse the earlier armed responses; at that time the Families had yet to reach agreement on the best course of action to take, and they felt the need to defend themselves while the talks continued. I am happy to be able to inform you that all discussions have now ended, and I am empowered to speak for all the Clans. The Shreck is here to confirm my words. Basically, we wish to surrender.'
Random's jaw dropped just a little. Of all the situations he'd expected to face this day, that wasn't one of them. 'What? All the Families?'
'I speak for every Clan in the Empire,' said BB. 'We see no point in continuing in an armed struggle.'
'Don't let her throw you,' said Ruby. 'Remember why you came here. She's just trying to distract you.'
'If she is, it's working,' said Storm. 'There's got to be a catch.'
'Our surrender is of course dependent on our agreeing to certain conditions,' said BB.
'That sounds more like it,' said Storm.
'The Families are prepared to give up their Lordships and associated privileges,' said BB calmly, 'in return for their survival. Essentially, the aristocracy will disappear, to be replaced by family-owned business operations. The Clans will continue to run their particular financial concerns, but will take no further part in the governing of the Empire. It's really quite a simple deal. You call off your dogs, guarantee our safety, and we give up politics. We're not so blind that we can't see the old order is finished and a new way is beginning. And isn't that what you really wanted, Jack? An end to established, inherited wielding of power in the Empire?'
'How can we be sure you speak for all the Families?' said Random. 'You've never agreed over anything before.'
'Because I'm Blue Block,' said BB, still smiling. 'No one Family is greater than Blue Block.'
'Jesus,' said Ruby. 'I always thought they were just a myth. Young Family members conditioned to be utterly loyal to death and beyond, right? Infiltrated everywhere, hidden in deep cover, the Families' last weapon against Lionstone. You're that Blue Block?'
'Oh yes,' said BB Chojiro. 'Only down the many years we slowly evolved into something more than was originally intended. Our loyalty now is to the protection and survival of all the Families, not just the Clans that birthed us. This came as something of a surprise to the heads of the various Clans, but they were quick to grasp the possibilities. Particularly when we proposed this plan to ensure the Families' survival. There were those who took some convincing. Who were so sure they were impregnable in their ancient Towers. Your unexpected form of attack changed all that, Jack. As soon as your people started crashing through their defenses and smashing their way into the top floors of their precious Towers, it was amazing how fast the recalcitrant Families changed their tune, and told us to go ahead and make the deal. Isn't that right, Gregor?'
'Get on with it,' growled the Shreck. 'Just because a thing's necessary, it doesn't mean I like having to bow down to rebel scum. You haven't won, Random, and we haven't lost. It's a stalemate. You could stick to your original plan and try to take us down, but I swear we'd fight to the last survivor of each Clan, and see most of your people dead in the process. You could still win; but you'd lose thousands of your people doing it. Well, Random? Is your need for revenge worth the deaths of so many of your followers? When you can save them and win the day, with just a word?'
'I don't know,' said Random. 'It might be. As long as people like you live and go unpunished, the rebellion will have been for nothing. All those who died to help us get this far will have died for nothing The system has to fall, and you're part of the system.'
'If we go down, it won't be just the system that falls,' said Gregor, grinning nastily. 'You've had the carrot; now here's the stick. You reject the deal, and we'll use our financial power to destroy the Empire's economic base. We can do it. We can use our computers to crash the banking system so thoroughly it would take centuries to recover. It's already precarious after what your friend Deathstalker did to the Tax computers. We could push it over the edge with just a nudge here and there. Money would become worthless. Credit would disappear. Trade would become impossible. Planets would be cut off from each other. Millions would starve, and millions more would fight over the crumbs that remained. What of your glorious rebellion then, Random? Destroy us, and we'll destroy the people you've been fighting to save.'
'Could they do that?' said Ruby to Random. 'Could they really do that?'
'Oh yeah,' said Random. 'That's just the kind of thing the Families would do.'
