BooksBarbecue
Back Woken Furies Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. PART 1
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. PART 2
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. PART 3
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. PART 4
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. THIRTY
  36. THIRTY-ONE
  37. THIRTY-TWO
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. PART 5
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. EPILOGUE

“Ahem. Perhaps we could discuss a »version?/view?« of those events which pivots less on »?????« than »recoil?/slingshot?« theories of …”

“Very well, as far as it goes. But give me a single »binding example?« to support those claims.”

“Ahhhhhh …”

“Exactly. Demodynamics isn’t »blood in the water?«, it’s an attempt to …”

“But—”

And on and on, until, in a clatter of cheap furniture, Koi was suddenly on his feet.

“That’s enough,” he said gruffly.

Glances flickered back and forth between the rest of us. Koi came round the side of the table and his old face was taut with emotion as he looked down at the woman sitting there. She looked back up at him without expression.

He offered her his hands.

“I have,” he swallowed, “concealed my identity from you until now, for the sake of. Our cause. Our common cause. But I am Soseki Koi, ninth Black Brigade command, Saffron theatre.”

The mask on Sylvie Oshima’s face melted away. Something like a grin took its place.

“Koi? Shaky Koi?”

He nodded. His lips were clamped together.

She took his outstretched hands, and he lifted her to her feet beside him.

He faced the table and looked at each of us in turn. You could see the tears in his eyes, hear them in his voice when he spoke.

“This is Quellcrist Falconer,” he said tightly. “In my mind there is no longer room for doubt.”

Then he turned and flung his arms around her. Sudden tear-ribbons glistened on his cheeks. His voice was hoarse.

“We waited so long for you to come again,” he wept. “We waited so long.”

PART 5

THIS IS THE STORM TO COME

“No one heard Ebisu returning until it was too late and then what had been said could not be unsaid, deeds done could not be undone and all present must answer for themselves.”

Legends of the Seagod Trad.

“Unpredictable wind vectors and velocity … expect heavy weather.”

Kossuth Storm Management Net Extreme Conditions Alert

THIRTY-EIGHT

I woke to Kossuth-grade heat and low-angle sunlight, a mild hangover and the serrated sound of snarling. Out in the pens, someone was feeding the swamp panthers.

I glanced at my watch. It was very early.