He’d thrown all of the EGE people out of the robot room except for the one he really wanted to talk to. The Coordinator’s office had a thick file on her. She was flagged as a rare type of Active and a potential problem down the road. However, she had a rare talent he needed, and more importantly Crow knew what she really wanted, and that gave him leverage.
“Pemberly Hammer…” he said, playing it soft. “Pemberly. Sounds old-fashioned.”
“Named after my grandmother.” She stood back a bit, arms folded in the shadow of the deactivated robot. Crow knew she wouldn’t expound, but it didn’t matter. He knew all about her. She came from a proud old Texas line, even had a couple of ancestors at the Alamo. All his intel suggested that she was just as stubborn as all the ranchers, sheriffs, soldiers, and rangers that had come before her.
“Speaking of family, I heard about your pops. We’re in the same line of work, me and him. Lawmen got to stick together.”
“From what I saw from your boys last night, you’re nothing like my father. He had honor.”
“I heard he could track anybody or anything. I understand you inherited his abilities.”
“I’ve got a rep and I earned it myself. All I know about you is that you flashed some special badge and real important people asked how high they needed to jump. Who are you supposed to be?”
“Crow. Office of the Coordinator of Information.”
Hammer frowned. Of course, she automatically knew when people were lying to her. She could tell the name was fictional, but the office wasn’t. “Never heard of it.”
“You’re not supposed to have… yet. We regulate magic.”
“What?” She laughed at him. “You can’t regulate magic.”
He didn’t care for her attitude. “We do now. I need your services.”
“Listen, Agent Crow-”
“It’s just Mister.”
“Fine, Mister Crow, I’m not interested in working for your kind of outfit. Your boys just walked up to Sullivan and started shooting easy as saying hello.”
“This job pays good. You can read minds, so you know when I say good, I mean real good.”
“I’m no Reader, and I’m still not interested. Good thing I don’t need your money.”
“Well, I’d heard you worked for whoever paid the most. Turning down good money… You’re not much of a mercenary then.”
“Girl needs a job. Doesn’t mean she has to take every one that comes along. Good day, Mr. Crow.” She turned to leave.
He wasn’t about to take any lip off a skirt. Crow knew he had a few options. Negotiation was a delicate dance. Sometimes you could threaten or bully, other times you could bribe or coerce. Cracking people was like cracking a safe: everyone had a combination that would open them right up, but sometimes it was just easier to dynamite the doors off. “I know what you want.”
“And what would that be?”
“A badge.”
She stopped in the doorway. “I already told you-”
“If my organization isn’t to your taste, I can pull some strings. Anywhere you want, wherever you want.” He could tell that he’d hooked her. “Come on, Hammer. Would I lie to you? Dig a little deeper.”
She did. Crow could feel the pressure in his head. She couldn’t Read him, but there was no lying to a Justice. He let her rummage through the top compartment, just enough to see that he wasn’t bluffing. She wasn’t even trying to be discreet. “Oh my…” she said slowly. As expected, what she found had shocked her. Crow wasn’t offended. Fear was just another tool in the tool box. “What are you?”
Interesting. She’d gone deeper than expected. The girl was dangerous. “Somebody you can’t afford to cross. You got a little peek at what I’m capable of. If you help me, I help you reach your goals. Badge anywhere you want one. If you don’t help me, then what your Power does becomes public knowledge. I’m sure potential employers would love to know that their most closely-held secrets aren’t safe when you’re around. In fact, as much corruption as there is in this world, I could see how nobody would ever hire someone like you. Too risky, because everybody has secrets… Your call.”
According to the OCI scientists’ categories and rankings of known Actives, Crow had been born as a relatively common type, and they mistakenly still had him there. Only a handful of men knew about what he could do now. Which meant that when he was done with this Justice, she would have to be disposed of.
She was angry, afraid, and trying not to let it show. Good. That’s right where he wanted her, and it was fine if she knew it. “You hook me up wherever I want, and all I have to do is this one job for you?”
“That’s all I want.”
Hesitantly, Hammer came back into the room. “What’s the gig?”
“Find Jake Sullivan again. He’ll have gone to ground and I want him found quick. OCI will pay double what you got to find him last time.”
“Sullivan? You should have said so. He stole my new car. I’d have tracked him down for free.”
He was pleased. Crow had learned all he could about Hammer first, about her abilities and her history. Despite the tough and cynical reputation she’d cultivated, she was basically an idealistic person, and nobody was easier to manipulate than an idealist.
Crow realized that he’d forgotten something. “One second.” He walked over to the still robot and inspected the Cog craftsmanship. “Impressive. This thing tore my men to pieces.” He put one finger in the dents where the pistol bullets had bounced off. “Your clients called it a robot. What’s that mean?”
“Czech word for serf. One of their Cogs invented the first one awhile back. EGE improved on the design. Nobody is better at sticking spells on stuff than these boys. They bring bad things to life.”
“I thought Edison didn’t believe in building offensive weapons.”
“Not since that debacle with the Navy ship that got all those sailors fused into the deck a few years back.” Hammer shook her head. “He wouldn’t do it, but Mr. Edison’s body wasn’t even cold before they’d figured out how to arm these. Each one has a 30-caliber machine gun, but they can take flamethrowers, antitank guns, you name it.”
“Does it think for itself?”
“I think they can only follow orders.”
“Huh… I like that. They pretty tough?”
“Very tough. This is the five series. The six just entered production. It’s even better. Like a security guard that never sleeps or a soldier that never gets scared. Army procurement wants some if they can get the funding.” Crow seemed deep in thought. it?”
“Yeah. I’m done with you. You’re going to want to get a move on before Sullivan gets too far away.”
“Head starts don’t matter with me.”
“Good. Do me a favor and send in one of those eggheads on the way out. I’ve got a few questions.”
Hammer was obviously relieved to be away from him. A minute later one of the EGE scientists came in, nervous. Crow tended to have that effect on most people.
“You needed help, sir?”
Crow pointed at the robot. “Are these expensive?”
“I’m no salesman, but I believe so. They’re somewhere around seventy thousand dollars each. The machining is very precise.”
“Hmmm…” Crow thought about it for a moment. That was an obscene amount of money, but OCI was about to have an even more obscene budget. “Does EGE offer a bulk discount?”
“I would have to ask.”
“Hell with it. I’ll take a dozen.”
Chapter 6
After we lost the vote, they told us to go home, but most of us stayed. Summer got hotter. Tempers got
