me.'
Sally's response had none of the flip arrogance of her earlier banter with the shaman. 'I'll argue about reason to scoff, but I'll also admit that I can't tell how this thing does whatever it is it does.'
'Could ya figure it out?'
'Maybe. Given time, but that isn't something I've got right now. Besides, this poking-prying stuff has never been my long suit.'
'Ha!' Scatter crowed triumphantly. 'I told you she was worthless, Kham. I will unravel the crystal's secrets for you. We shall share those secrets together.'
Sally gave the shaman a harsh look, then turned back to Kham. Her face was serious. 'I'd sell it before I trusted her, Kham.'
'Sell it?' Kham hadn't thought of that. 'Ta who?'
'The highest bidder. Cog could handle it. A piece like that should fetch a fine price on the open market, and selling it has the added benefit of getting you out of the loop with this elf and the owner of the truck. They'll leave you alone if you get rid of this thing.'
'What if da bad guys buy it back?'
Sally shrugged. 'Then soothe your conscience with the money. You'll live, and you'll live rich.'
'You must not sell the crystal,' Scatter insisted. 'And why not?' Sally asked. Scatter scurried forward and pointed an accusing finger into her face. 'You mages have no souls! You don't understand the true nature of the world! This crystal has a spirit, as do all things. Selling it for gain would pollute that spirit. It is your kind that is corrupting the magic. Defilers! Defilers, all! Now you would defile this mystery just because you do not understand it.'
'What drek!' Sally batted away the shaman's hand, and Scatter retreated a step. Sally turned her back on the woman. 'Kham, you'll only get yourself more trouble if you're going to listen to this pile of rags. You've been a good chummer. We've had a lot a fun, had a lot of good runs. But this is something I don't want a piece of. You keep it, and all I can do is wish you luck. Dump it and come up cool, then we can do biz. You know the number.'
Sally started to walk away, and the orks parted to let her go. Kham couldn't think of anything to say. Sally had been his hope of unraveling this magic. Without her, how could he do that?
'Do not stay too long in one place,' Ghost advised as he turned to follow Sally down the street. Dumbfounded, Kham watched them go. Neko herded the other runners back into the truck, then tugged at Kham's arm. Reluctantly, Kham climbed in and watched the catboy swing the doors closed. They rolled.
Kham had always valued Sally's advice. She'd said this stolen crystal was powerful. He knew it had to be, if it could do what he thought it could. Still, she didn't want any part of it, and that puzzled him. This magic could help norms as well as orks. More than once he'd heard her complain that she was getting too old for running. He had the answer to that sitting in this truck with him, but she didn't want a part of it. What did she know that he didn't?
She said to sell it. She said they could get a lot of nuyen for it. Well, selling it would get him out of his financial problems, and it would go a long way toward settling the score with that fragging elf Glasgian. If Glasgian didn't end up as the buyer, that is. But maybe even then, especially if Scatter was right that selling the crystal would mess up its magic.
But using that magic… what that might do! He would never be old, never worn out and wrecked like his mother. Lissa would never grow old either. And the kids. They would no longer be condemned to an ork's short life. They'd have a chance to learn and do and be. All he had to do was unlock the crystal's secret.
But how?
He didn't know what to do.
22
'Hey, Kham. One thing you can't do is sell these wheels to Zasshu.'
The raw eagerness in Rabo's voice brought Kham out of his funk. 'Why's dat?'
'They're too, too sweet. That halfer wouldn't appreciate even half of what this baby has got in her, real cutting edge once you look under the hood. I'll bet half the circuits are prime Miltron. Gotta be, with what this baby's packing. Sure ain't Ares tech. Ain't no ID's on the boards, but this rig has gotta be Miltron make. The mesh is just too smooth to be a slapdash. But that halfer just ain't got appreciation; he'd probably break her up for parts.'
'Safer that way,' The Weeze pointed out. 'You ain't got no soul, Weezer. This beauty deserves better than that.'
'My butt says otherwise. This bucket could use better shocks,' Ratstomper complained.
Rabo laughed her off. 'You're just pissy 'cause you been sitting too long. The ride's fine up here.'
But riding was something they couldn't do forever. 'Don't get too comfortable up dere, Rabo. We gotta dump dis heap soon as da stone is safe.'
'Aw, Kham, you don't understand what you're giving up. This baby's got armor, weapons, and lots of wrinkles I still ain't had time to figure out yet. Give me a week or two and I'll have her humming to my tune. You'll see. We got us a real street chariot here. Lone Star's Citymasters ain't gonna be a problem anymore.'
The rigger's enthusiasm got old quickly. Couldn't Rabo see the problems that keeping the hijacked truck would cause? Kham decided to point out the most obvious of them. 'Rabo, ya wanna be around when dose metal guys come ta repossess dis ting?'
'Who says they're gonna?' Rabo was uncowed. 'They were rockin' and rollin' with the Andies last we seen them, and with no way 'a gettin' outta there without wheels or wings. We got their wheels, right? And they didn't have any wings.'
'What if they did?' Ryan asked. 'They were tough bastards.'
'Drek, yeah,' The Weeze agreed. 'You see the way that one kept fighting even with his leg out? Howled like a gutted cat when that wage mage tried to fry him, but he was hosing down Andies soon as the light faded. Sure as flux leaves ya dripping drek. I wouldn't want to square orf with one of those guys.'
'Ain't gonna have to,' Rabo insisted. 'I'm telling you they're history. This baby's ours now.'
Ryan's face twisted into a worried grimace. 'How can you be sure they don't have friends? We don't know who they were working for.''
'Yeah,' Ratstomper echoed. Kham was beginning to think the two of them had become a team. 'You don't think they was working for that other elf, do ya, Kham?'
'Drek! What you got for eyes, Stomper?' Rabo asked. 'They weren't elves. Under all that chrome they were breeders.'
'Go frag yourself, drekhead,' Ratstomper snapped back. 'Just 'cause they're breeders don't mean they weren't working for an elf. Ain't we worked for daisy-eaters ourselves? And we sure ain't no pointy-eared, flouncy elves.'
That got the guys laughing, even Rabo. When things quieted down. The Weeze said, 'You know, Stomper might be right. Maybe those two elves who went with us to the Salish had a falling out. Maybe we just got caught in the middle of a family spat.'
'I don't think those cyberguys were working for an elf,' Neko said quietly.
All the ork eyes in the back of the truck turned to him, including Kham's, who wanted to know how Neko had reached that conclusion. 'Why not, cat-boy?'
'They didn't operate with any magic.'
'No,' Scatter said definitively. 'They had no magic.'
'Good point. Elves love dat stuff. Running a team witout it just ain't dere style. At least not fer Tir elves.'
Ryan wasn't buying it. 'So who says the ones after us was Tir elves?''
'One of 'em was,' The Weeze said. 'That Glas-gian twerp.'
'Maybe so,' Ryan agreed reluctantly. 'But the cat-boy said the other was Australian. / don't know how Aussie elves operate. Do you, wisearse?'
'If Urdli had wanted the crystal, he would have taken it himself,' Neko asserted.
