in. Hart maintained that the raid on the warehouse had effectively scuttled the Circle's scheme. She insisted that there was no need to do anything else, and that it was too dangerous anyway, as the disappearance of Estios's crew showed. She refused to do any legwork or magical searches. If their sack time hadn't been full of heated apologies, Sam would have thought she had finally gotten bored with him and was anxious for a more attractive partner. Only Willie seemed to be staying on track. Her payments had vanished along with Estios, but she was still the job and sending second-rate drones anywhere she thought she might pick up a lead.
The night's arguments had wearied Sam more than the long days without enough sleep. Dawn was beginning to lighten the sky from black to indigo. He rubbed at his eyes and felt their puffiness. Almost a new day and they hadn't heard anything yet. Maybe Hart was right.
'There it is,' Willie announced.
Sam's stomach flopped.
'Hey, Hart,' Willie called from her seat by the rigger board. 'I thought you said that with the wendigo dead the Circle was out of business. Morning screamsheet's got a Bone Boy kill. One victim. Just like we never bothered them.'
'Must be a copycat,' Hart said sourly.
'Sweet dream, elf, but no joy. It's them, or I'm an unjacked ferrophobe. Wendigo or not, they're still on course.'
'We can't let this go on,' Sam said.
'What are we supposed to do about it?' Hart asked. 'They know about us now. Willie can't get a drone near enough to follow even the acolytes. Dodger's off chasing who knows what. Without surprise, we won't be able to crack their security. If we try to catch them in the act again, they'll be waiting. Even if we still had Estios and his bunch, we'd only get ourselves wasted.'
'We've got to do something. We can hire muscle.'
'With what? We don't have the resources. Even if we had muscle, what about their magic? Those druids are pulling down some powerful mana.'
'We'll get the resources,' Sam insisted. 'We'll find a way to cancel their magic.'
'How?'
'That's a question I've got to ask too, Twist,' Willie said. 'I'm not gonna quit on you, but you gotta know that we ain't gonna get much help on the street. Burnside's been spreading the word that anybody who works with us, crosses him.'
'He's just one cop.'
'Maybe he's just one cop, but he's got a lot of hooks in the shadow world. Most runners still got to live in this plex with that one cop.''
Sam hung his head and massaged the back of his neck. After a few moments he let his hand drop. 'Then we'll do it ourselves. Dodger can slice loose some of the druids' own money. With enough nuyen we can refit your drones, Willie. Cog's a good connection; he can get us combat drones.'
Hart forced a hissing breath through her teeth. 'Willie's firepower didn't do much against their summoning in the warehouse. The mundane approach won't work without some serious firepower. Even then, it's not sure. With preparations, and they will be prepared, they can raise stronger spirits. Lots of them.'
'Then we'll need magic to take care of the spirits.' Sam stared her in the eye. He willed her to put aside her negativism. They all knew it wasn't going to be easy, but they had to do the right thing. Why was she being so difficult?
'Don't look at me that way,' Hart snapped. 'I'm not sure I have the juice. Putting down that last one almost broke me.'
Sam was disappointed. Had the dismissal of the spirit really been so hard for her? Since that night she had been so defeatist, not like herself at all. As much as he hoped that she would be by his side to face the Circle, he knew he would face them without her if he had to. The Circle and their pawn-patron Gordon had to be stopped. If she wasn't going to be there, he'd find another way.
'Herzog will help,' Sam said. He tried to sound assured. 'He's always said he's a master of spirits.'
'He won't leave his sewers.'
Hart's statement was made with utter confidence. Sam's hope sank. She had known the Gator shaman longer than he had; he feared she was right.
'Then he'll have to teach me how to handle the spirits, because I won't let those druids sacrifice another person.'
Dan had not come home for days, but Janice wasn't worried. He was strong; nothing could harm him. With him gone, her lessons had perforce stopped. She had grown bored and begun to prowl the maze that made up the residence floor. It was a fascinating place, full of mementos, books, and art. There seemed to be artifacts from all seven of the continents. Many of the more curious items were magical, and those were the most fascinating. She had never dreamed that there were so many different kinds of aids for magical operations. When Dan returned, she would badger him into explaining them to her.
She had known that his corporate holdings were widespread, but her browsings in his library and databank showed her just how extensive they were. Through networks of holding companies and brokerages, he held controlling interests in more than a dozen corporations of varying sizes. GWN was the largest, but not by much. He could go to any of the world's major cities and find one of his corporate enclaves.
Her readings uncovered a curious fact. None of the heads of his corporate empire had ever met, despite a strong interweaving of business efforts. The presidents and GEOs must be very good to pull off such an arrangement, considering the disparate natures of their businesses and the spheres in which they operated. Dan must have chosen his subordinates well. Intrigued with how he had found so many loyal followers, she delved deeper.
She began to wonder if all of Dan's top corporate officers shared his metatype. Garcia and Han were both of the metatype and so were important officers of his operations on different continents. While the computer records showed all of the principal officers as norms, she knew better in at least one case. Dan himself was head of GWN despite the registered smiling face of a blond man named Doug Randall. Therefore, there was no reason to believe that the other records told the truth. The photographs accompanying annual reports could only be considered circumstantial evidence at best. Some megacorps deliberately published false pictures of their officers as a security measure.
In the beginning, Dan had said that he wanted her to join his organization. At the time she had been scared and disoriented by her change. She had thought him hypocritical for hiding his own nature within an illusion of normal humanity. She had learned otherwise, been educated in the necessity of his approach.
In her second change she had lost her self, but with his aid she was finding that self againa151or rather, redefining it. She no longer wanted to consider herself human. Humans were petty beings full of hate and prejudice. She wanted no connection between herself and those awful creatures.
She had come to see Dan's mask as the way of survival, appreciating its necessity and adopting one of her own. Thus, she was not surprised when the bits and pieces began to fall into place, and she realized that all of the presidents and CEOs were Dan himself. There was no need for them to communicate with each other. Each knew all of the others' plans, hopes, and aspirations. Each agreed whole-heartedly. It was a wonderful joke.
She scanned the executives' pictures over and over, imagining Dan's toothy grin lurking behind each face. The collection was a wide sampling of racial and bodily types. The choices showed a clever imagination. Would he ever consent to wearing one of his masks as they made love? Most of his guises were handsome in human terms, but a few were less than appealing, especially the grossly fat Hyde-White. She wouldn't care to share her bed with that one. She finally decided that it wouldn't matter. Her astral senses were becoming so tuned that she could pierce an illusion spell almost automatically.
She hoped he would return soon. She missed him.
Hart kept her face carefully neutral. She didn't want to give anything away. Bambatu's expression was one of stern disapproval.
'You have not fulfilled your orders, Katherine. You know that the Lady will be displeased.'
'But you haven't told her, have you?'
Bambatu's mouth quirked up in irritation. It spoiled his good looks.
