equipment at Porton Down Research Facility in Wiltshire. We believe one or more of the Feyre were responsible for the incident. Do you dispute this assessment?'
I noticed that his hands were shaking very slightly where he held the paper.
'I don't dispute that there was an incident,' said Krane.
'Do you dispute that the Feyre were responsible?'
'Responsibility can be difficult to assign. Is the sword responsible for the cut, or the swordsman?'
'The swordsman,' said the bank manager, without hesitation.
'And yet,' said Krane, 'if the sword cuts out a cancer then the swordsman may be revealed as a surgeon, may he not?'
'You don't remove a cancer with a sword, Lord Krane. You use a scalpel.'
Krane clasped his hands together on the table. 'Just so.'
'Thirty-seven people are dead after last night. Thirtyseven deaths to explain to the families, and that's assuming the remaining victims survive. The destruction of a Crown facility on a high-security site, unexplained lights in the night sky, exploding aircraft, radiation burns – how are we supposed to keep this quiet?'
'That is not our concern,' said Krane, quietly.
'It may become your concern.'
'I do not think so.'
'The Prime Minister is demanding an explanation from the Security Services and the Ministry of Defence. He's demanding full disclosure.'
'I trust that you can come up with an explanation that will… satisfy him.'
'My colleagues in Defence are demanding an inquiry.'
'That would not be wise.'
'I'm not sure if we can turn them down. This is getting beyond my ability to contain.'
'It has been beyond your ability to contain for some time.'
That prompted a sharp intake of breath. 'Are you questioning my competence?'
'No, I am questioning your control.' Krane reached into his pocket and produced the plastic container with the vial inside. He placed it carefully on the table between them. His hands did not shake. He clasped his hands again and placed them on the table.
'What's that?'
'I believe the term is: a biological weapon.'
'Where did you get it?'
'It originated at Porton Down.'
'Is that what you were after?'
'No. Truly, we did not know it existed. Apparently, neither did you.'
'Then who made it?'
'Perhaps,' said Krane, 'that should be the subject of your inquiry.'
The bank manager reached forward.
'If you touch it,' Krane said, 'we will kill all of you.' The hand halted in mid-air. 'We are not in the habit of allowing weapons aimed against us to fall into hostile hands.'
The heavies reached inside their jackets. My hand and Garvin's dropped in perfect time to the hilts of our swords.
'Your men will never draw their weapons in time,' said Krane, quietly.
The bank manager withdrew his hand slowly from the table and replaced it in his lap. The heavies slowly drew their hands back too, and Garvin and I lifted ours slowly from our swords. Everyone watched everyone else.
'Perhaps it would be better if you retrieved your sample,' said Carler.
Krane reached forward, took the plastic container and returned it to his coat.
Carler put as much conviction into his voice as he could muster. 'We did not, and have not, sanctioned the development of a biological weapon to be used against the Feyre.'
'That you know of,' said Krane. 'Nevertheless, one has been created.'
'I can assure you that we had no knowledge of this.'
'We have a treaty, Secretary Carler. The treaty was made long before you were born. Guillaume was both clever and capable, and when he sealed our bargain he got more than he hoped for. Since that time your kind have spread and become far more numerous than even we expected. Regardless, we gave our word and we will keep it-'
'That's good to hear-' began Carler.
'-as long as you keep your side of the bargain,' said Krane.
'We have acted in good faith-'
'The hoarding of weapons against the Feyre is specifically prohibited in the treaty.'
'Our understanding is that the research was for medical purposes.'
'Nevertheless,' Krane repeated, 'a weapon was created. We are not so naive as to suppose that this-' He touched his jacket over the pocket where the vial rested '-is the only example of it, or that the research that created it was destroyed along with the facility.'
'I can assure you that all the research associated with this project will be destroyed and that any records will be eliminated.'
'Let us imagine for a moment,' said Krane, 'that through circumstances beyond your control this weapon was deployed. Let us imagine that it got out into the human population. The Gifted, those who share the bloodlines of both our races, would fall like blossom in a hailstorm. Our hope of renewal and strength would fail.'
'That would be most unfortunate,' agreed Carler.
'Under such circumstances, our treaty would be annulled, the purpose of the Seventh Court's exile would become moot and the peaceful coexistence that we have all worked so hard to preserve would be… unsustainable.'
'I'm quite sure that would never happen,' said Carler. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
Krane continued his quiet musing. 'The lights in the sky over Porton Down might be a foretaste of what would follow… over London, Manchester, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol.'
'You are talking about open warfare.'
'Teoth believes that the weapon can be altered. He believes that, given encouragement, it would develop and grow. He thinks the sample can be used to create a weapon that would be effective against humanity. Do you remember the Black Death, Secretary Carler? Do you know of it?'
'The plague? I read about it.'
'A dark time for humanity. During that time the human population diminished. Nature reasserted herself. Forests grew back, meadows flowered. It was a good time for the Feyre.'
'Is that a threat, Lord Krane?'
'Teoth says that the serum would make a disease such as you have not known, enhanced to spread through power, seeded on the wind, flowing in the water, immune to fire or acid, lethal in hours but able to lie dormant in the earth for centuries to come… The Feyre would be immune to it, of course, though the Gifted would suffer along with humanity.'
'Why would you create such a thing?'
'We would not. We did not create this abomination. You did. We would simply be turning it to our purpose.'
'But the Gifted would die along with everyone else.'
'Those that remained, yes. It would be a tragedy for all of us. Still, it is only speculation. We have a treaty, after all.'
'I do not believe that these threats are helping us, Lord Krane.'
'Threats? No, I am simply speculating on a chain of events arising as a consequence of activities of which you had no knowledge or oversight.'
'Quite so,' said Carler. There was a long pause. 'What would the Seven Courts have us do, Lord Krane? What assurances do you require?'
'You cannot assure us of things of which you have no knowledge, and therefore any assurance is only as good
