BooksBarbecue
Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

‘A couple of things,’ he began. ‘The strong forgive, because they can, and because holding on to their hatred makes no sense past a certain point. You beat your enemy, and then you move on. If you can’t do that, you become as obsessed with your never-ending war as he probably was to begin with. You start to see everything as part of the war. In the end, you’ll lose your life to it, as surely as you would getting killed on the battlefield.’

He finished his own drink, but unlike his wife he decided to have another one. He stood up to go to the kitchen, picking up her glass too as he did so. Barb shook her head.

‘I thought we might go to bed early,’ she said. ‘We could snuggle a bit.’

‘I’m all up for snuggling,’ he replied, heading for the door while at the same time finding he was warming to his little dissertation. ‘But, you know, the other thing is, we can use these people. We can use everyone who’s willing to put up their hands and declare for us at the moment. Those fighters, if they want to live here, if they want to see their families again, they can damn well earn the privilege fighting for us. I’m more than happy to watch them get chewed up seeing off pirates on the East Coast. Plus, the intelligence guys tell me we can turn them and send them out pretty much anytime we want. As long as they’ve made the commitment to us. They become our weapons.’

‘And Texas?’

‘I have no idea,’ said Kip unconvincingly. ‘Jed’s forever scheming against Blackstone. He leaves me out of it, thank God. In some ways they’re made for each other. But I’m not sure exactly what he’s up to at the moment. Guess I’ll find out tomorrow. Gotta say, though, my gut feeling is that I should just go down there and have it all out with Mad Jack myself.’

His wife looked sceptical. ‘Kip, he’s such an asshole.’

‘Yeah, but maybe he’s a well-intentioned asshole. I really think he only wants what’s best for the country. It’s just that, you know, he’s an asshole about it.’

‘Well, I’m sure if you fly down and tell him that, man to man,’ she said, cocking one eyebrow at him, ‘he’ll totally come around to your way of seeing things.’