The Night's Dawn Trilogy (400 page)

The cops were her only worry. Even given the fact less than a quarter of the targets reported the assault and theft, it wouldn’t
take an AI to spot the pattern. But Banneth would know if there was any sort of operation being mounted. Banneth knew fucking
everything going down in Edmonton. It was scary, sometimes. Courtney knew some of the sect’s acolytes didn’t really believe
in God’s Brother, they were just too shit-scared of Banneth to step out of line.

“This is it,” she told the man. They’d stopped outside the worn entrance of a two-century-old skyscraper. A couple of genuine
students were sitting on the steps, taking charges from a power inhaler. They looked at Courtney with glazed uncaring eyes.
She pulled the man past and into the foyer.

In the elevator he made his first tentative move. Going for a kiss, which she let him have. Tongue straight down her throat.
He didn’t have time for anything more; the room they’d hijacked for the night was on the third floor. Its real owner lost
somewhere in the arcology as the black stimulant program shorted out her neurones.

“What are you studying?” he asked once they were inside.

That caught her short. She didn’t have a story in place for that—he wasn’t supposed to care. Nothing to help here, either.
The room was a usual student’s jumble, badly lit with fleks and clothes everywhere, a decades-old desktop block on the one
shabby table. Courtney didn’t read too good, so she couldn’t tell what the tiny print on the flek cases said.

Easy way out. She shoved the shoulder straps down, and let her tits bobble free. That shut him up. It took him about thirty
seconds to push her down on the bed, then one hand was up her skirt while the other was squeezing a tit crudely. She groaned
like it was good, hoping Billy-Joe and the others got a fucking move on. Sometimes the shits waited and let the man fuck her.
Watching the show through some sensor or peep hole, getting off on the scene and laughing quietly. They always claimed it
looked less like a set-up if they came in afterwards. Banneth laughed too if she complained.

The man’s hand was tugging at her panties. Mouth all hot and slobbering over a nipple. Courtney tried not to grimace. Then
she was shivering, as if the conditioning duct had suddenly dumped a shitload of ice into the air.

He gave out a single puzzled grunt, pulling his head back. They looked at each other for an instant, both equally bewildered.
Then a white hand clamped over his gelled hair, yanking his head away from her. He yelled in shock and pain as he was pulled
off her and flung over the room. His flabby body hit the opposite wall with a loud crash, and crumpled to the floor. A figure
in a black robe was standing at the side of the bed, blank hood tipped down towards Courtney. She drew in a breath to shriek,
knowing fucking well this wasn’t Billy-Joe or any of the others.

“Don’t,” the figure warned. The darkness inside the hood withered to reveal the face.

“Quinn!” Courtney squeaked. A smile flicked her lips. “Quinn? God’s Brother, where the fuck did you come from? I thought you
got transported.”

“Long story. Tell you in a minute.” He turned and went over to the quivering man, grabbed his head and pulled back viciously.
The man’s throat was exposed along its entire length, skin stretched tight.

“Quinn, what are you… Urrgh!” Courtney watched in a kind of interested shock as a couple of sharp fangs slid out of Quinn’s
mouth. He winked at her as he lowered his head to bite the man’s neck. She could see Quinn’s Adam’s apple bobbing as he sucked
down the blood, several drops dribbled past his lips. The man was whimpering in high-pitched terror. “Oh fuck, Quinn, that’s
disgusting.”

Quinn stood up, grinning, and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood. “No it’s not. It’s the final
conquest. Blood is the best food a human can have. Think on it; every nutrient you need all nicely refined and cooked ready
for you. It’s your right to take it from the followers of the false lord you defeat. Use them to make you strong, Courtney,
replenish your body.” He looked down at the fat man who was clutching the neck wound desperately. Blood was pouring through
his fingers.

Courtney giggled at the feeble gurgling sounds the man was making. “You’ve changed.”

“So have you.”

“Yeah!” She cupped her tits and lifted them. “Grew these for a start. Good, aren’t they?”

“God’s Brother, Courtney, you are a total slut.”

She straightened a leg and dangled her shoe from one toe. “I like what I am, Quinn. That’s my serpent beast, remember? Dignity
is a weakness, along with all the other crap on the middle-class wish list.”

“You did listen to the sermons.”

“Sure did.”

“So how’s Banneth?”

“Same, I guess.”

“Not for long. I’m back now.” He held out his hands, making simple gestures. The room began to change; the walls darkening,
furniture turning to matt black cast iron. Manacles appeared on the metal railings at the head of the bed.

Courtney looked round wildly at the manifestations, and scrambled backwards over the crumpled duvet, cramming herself into
a corner away from Quinn. “Shit, you’re a possessed!”

“Not me,” he said softly. “I possess. I am the one God’s Brother has chosen as his Messiah. This power the returning souls
have depends on the force of their will. And nobody believes in themselves more than me. That’s how I regained control of
my body, through the belief He gave me in myself. Now I’m stronger than a hundred of those snivelling lost dickheads.”

Courtney unfolded her legs and peered forward. “It is you, isn’t it. I mean, like really you. You’ve got your own body and
everything.”

“You never were very quick, were you? But then, it was never your brain the sect wanted.”

“Were you in New York?” she asked in quiet admiration. “I saw all the fighting on the AV. The police killed skyscrapers full
of people they were so scared.”

“I was there a while back. I was also in Paris, Bombay, and Johannesburg, which the police don’t know about yet. Then I gave
in to myself, and came home.”

“I’m glad you did.” Courtney bounded off the bed, and flung her arms round him, licking from his ear to his mouth. “Welcome
back.”

“You will follow me now, not Banneth.”

“Yes.” She slid her tongue over the tacky blood congealing on his chin, tasting its salt.

“You will obey.”

“Of course.”

Quinn focused on the thought currents in her brain, and knew she was telling the truth. Not that he’d expected anything else
from Courtney. He opened the door and let the other three in. Billy-Joe and Rav he knew from before; it hadn’t taken much
to cow them. Five people standing made the little student room badly cramped, their breath helping to heat it up. Fast breathing
which came from nerves and excitement. They were all eager to see what Quinn would do next.

“I came back to Earth so I could bring down the Night,” he told them. “You’ll play a big part in that, and so will the possessed.
I’m going to leave a nest of you in every arcology. But Edmonton is special for me, because Banneth’s here.”

“What you going to do to her?” Billy-Joe asked.

Quinn patted the slender youth’s wire-like arm. “The worst I can imagine,” he said. “And I’ve spent a lot of time imagining.”

Billy-Joe’s mouth split into an oafish grin. “All right!”

Quinn looked down at the fat man. He was gasping like a fish. Blood had formed an enormous puddle on the scuffed tile floor.
“You’re dying,” Quinn said cheerfully. “Only one way to save you now.” Fields of energy shifted at his command, exerting a
specific pressure against reality. The cries of the souls began to filter out of the beyond. “Courtney, hurt him.”

She shrugged to the others, and kicked the man hard in the crotch. He shivered, eyes bugging before the lids began to flutter
uncontrollably. An extra squirt of blood pumped out of the wound.

“And again,” Quinn directed mildly. In his mind, he was dictating terms to the lost souls who clustered round the weak rent
between universes. Hearing the pleas of those who claimed they were worthy. Making his judgement.

Courtney did as she was told, watching in fascination as a soul (a real dead person!) took control of the wretched man. The
wound closed up. He started hissing in consternation. Tiny rivulets of lightning slithered along the creases of his blood-soaked
suit fabric.

“Give him something to drink,” Quinn said.

Billy-Joe and Julie ransacked the cupboards for cans of soda, popping them and handing them down to the grateful possessed.

“It’ll take you a while to replace that much blood,” Quinn said. “Just lie there and take it easy for a while. Enjoy the show.”

“Yes, Quinn,” the possessed muttered weakly. He managed to roll onto his back, the effort coming close to making him faint.

The iron manacles snapped open loudly. Courtney took one look at them, and glanced back enquiringly at Quinn. His robe was
already dissolving. “You know how to use them,” he told her.

She wriggled out of her dress and bent over the bed, placing her wrists in the manacles. They hinged shut, and locked.

______

Ilex
emerged above Avon, radiating profound satisfaction (and considerable hunger). Every Edenist within Trafalgar picked up the
emotional emission, and smiled simultaneously at the results Auster was declaring. Lalwani immediately declassified the strike
mission against the antimatter station, and the navy press office started relaying the information to the system’s news companies.
Everything happened so fast that the First Admiral’s staff only just managed to officially brief Jeeta Anwar before the Presidential
office staff received it off the communication net.

The voidhawk’s easy two-gee flight to the naval base’s docking ledges was considerably more relaxed than the last time it
had burst out of wormhole close to Trafalgar. General affinity hummed with a great many ironic comments pointing this out
to its triumphant crew.

Two hours after
Ilex
’s arrival, Captain Auster was escorted into the First Admiral’s office by Lieutenant Keaton, the newest member of the admiral’s
staff. Samual Aleksandrovich greeted the Edenist captain warmly, and gestured to the sunken reception area. Lalwani and Kolhammer
joined them on the leather couches, while the lieutenant served tea and coffee. As he was moving round with their china cups,
the bulky AV cylinder at the apex of the ceiling shimmered brightly, and the images of President Haaker and Jeeta Anwar materialized
in the reception area.

“My congratulations to the Navy, Admirals, Captain,” Haaker said. “The destruction of an antimatter station at this time is
particularly satisfying.”

“Capone’s antimatter station, Mr President,” Kolhammer said significantly. “That’s a considerable bonus.”

“Essentially he will be unable to mount any more of these damnable infiltration missions against Confederation planets, let
alone attempt another full scale invasion along the lines of Arnstat,” Samual said. “That means he’s been neutered. We shall
now resume our harassment campaign, and enhance it considerably this time around. That should wear down the hellhawks, and
deplete his stock of antimatter in defence. Given its unstable social base, we expect the Organization to collapse within
a few weeks, two months at the most.”

“Unless he pulls another rabbit out of his capacious fedora,” Haaker said. “I don’t mean to disparage your action against
the antimatter station, Samual, but in Allah’s name, it was a long time coming. Possibly too long. According the latest report
I have, nearly a third of Kerry’s population is now possessed, and it’s only a question of time until the remainder are taken
over. On top of that, we know of eleven other worlds Capone has successfully managed to infiltrate. That means we’ll lose
them, too, you know that as well as I do. And there will no doubt be starships currently en route, telling us of more infiltrations
launched before the station was destroyed. Your pardon, but this success rings hollow indeed.”

“What else would you have us do?”

“You know very well. How is Dr Gilmore’s project progressing?”

“Slowly, as Mae Ortlieb has been telling you.”

“Yes, yes.” Haaker waved an irritable hand. “Well keep me informed of any further developments. Preferably ahead of the media.”

“Yes, Mr President.”

The image of the President and his aide vanished.

“Ungrateful old git,” Kolhammer muttered.

“It’s understandable,” Lalwani said. “The Assembly is beginning to resemble a zoo these days. The ambassadors have realized
that for once their magnificent speeches alone aren’t going to solve this crisis. They’re shouting for action, though of course
they don’t name a specific.”

“The antimatter ought to relieve a lot of pressure on the Navy,” Kolhammer said. “We should be able to press individual governments
to maintain the civil starflight quarantine.”

“There’s still a lot of reticence there,” Lalwani said. “The smaller, more distant asteroids are suffering badly from the
economic situation. To them, the conflict is a remote one. That justifies their clandestine flights.”

“It’s only remote until their selfish idiocy allows a possessed into their settlement,” Kolhammer snapped.

“We’re making progress on identifying the principal offenders,” Lalwani said. “I’m getting a lot of cooperation from other
intelligence agencies. Once we’ve confirmed the offence, the problem then becomes a diplomatic one.”

“And everything goes pear-shaped,” Kolhammer said. “Bloody lawyers.”

Samual put his tea cup down on the central rosewood table, and turned directly to Auster. “You were with Meredith’s squadron
at Jupiter, I believe?”

“Yes, Admiral,” Auster said.

“Good. I accessed all of your report on the antimatter station mission while the
Ilex
was docking; and I’d like you to tell me directly why Consensus is sending two ships to the other side of the Orion nebula.
Specifically
why one of them is the
Lady Macbeth
. I simply could not make it plainer that I expected Captain Calvert and that despicable Mzu woman to remain in Tranquillity,
and incommunicado.”