“Did Piet know he was saving your life?” asked Christian.
“What do you think?” I countered.
If Piet had realized what was happening...maybe Ogburn would have got to make his throw. We both knew that. And maybe it only looked like sunlight flashing from the blade....
“So now I inherit the whole thing,” said Christian, curling his lip as he said it. “The youngest. The bastard. But the legacy’s all mine.”
“The legacy’s the empire’s,” I said. “For better or for worse. You’ll have to start from scratch. But you’re as good as Verheyden. Just do what you can.”
“You do it,” he said. “You’re the one who knows it all. You’re the one who blasted apart the old regime. If ever there was ilah’y’su it’s surely you. Out of the sky, with the gift of curing and trailing death wherever you go. You take over where my mother’s husband left off.”
“It’s your world, Christian,” I said.
And I left it at that.
Next, I went to see the animals that were carrying my plague parasites across the ocean for me. They didn’t look too well either. But they were only seasick.
I met Mariel in the corridor as I went back to my cabin.
I smiled, faintly. “Plain sailing from now on,” I said. “Good ship, fair wind...all that crap.”
“He’ll be all right,” she said. “In a few days.”
“Sure,” I affirmed. “Sea air’ll do him a world of good. And with the others all gone...he always was the one good bet.”
It was a rather cruel judgment—not much of an epitaph for poor Charles and Jan.
“I’ll look after him,” she said, calmly.
“I know,” I replied.
“I’m not even afraid,” she said. “You know that crazy feeling...all the crazy feelings...about losing my power. I’m not afraid now. I don’t know why. Maybe all that fighting anaesthetized me. But I can feel for Christian, and somehow I don’t think—not any more—that the feeling’s being ripped out of my talent. You know what I mean?”
“I understand,” I said.
She looked at me, searching my eyes for the answer to an unspoken question. I really didn’t have it—not clearly enough to put into a readable thought.
“It’s just a matter of balance,” I told her. “Find an equilibrium...and keep it.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Stableford was born in Yorkshire in 1948. He taught at the University of Reading for several years, but is now a full-time writer. He has written many science-fiction and fantasy novels, including The Empire of Fear, The Werewolves of London, Year Zero, The Curse of the Coral Bride, The Stones of Camelot, and Prelude to Eternity. Collections of his short stories include a long series of Tales of the Biotech Revolution, and such idiosyncratic items as Sheena and Other Gothic Tales and The Innsmouth Heritage and Other Sequels. He has written numerous nonfiction books, including Scientific Romance in Britain, 1890-1950; Glorious Perversity: The Decline and Fall of Literary Decadence; Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia; and The Devil’s Party: A Brief History of Satanic Abuse. He has contributed hundreds of biographical and critical articles to reference books, and has also translated numerous novels from the French language, including books by Paul Féval, Albert Robida, Maurice Renard, and J. H. Rosny the Elder.
BORGO PRESS BOOKS BY BRIAN STABLEFORD
Alien Abduction: The Wiltshire Revelations * Balance of Power (Daedalus Mission #5) * The Best of Both Worlds and Other Ambiguous Tales * Beyond the Colors of Darkness and Other Exotica Changelings and Other Metaphoric Tales * The City of the Sun (Daedalus Mission #4) * Complications and Other Science Fiction Stories * The Cosmic Perspective and Other Black Comedies Critical Threshold (Daedalus Mission #2) * The Cthulhu Encryption: A Romance of Piracy * The Cure for Love and Other Tales of the Biotech Revolution * The Dragon Man: A Novel of the Future * The Eleventh Hour * The Fenris Device (Hooded Swan #5) * Firefly: A Novel of the Far Future * Les Fleurs du Mal: A Tale of the Biotech Revolution * The Florians (Daedalus Mission #1) * The Gardens of Tantalus and Other Delusions * The Gates of Eden: A Science Fiction Novel * The Great Chain of Being and Other Tales of the Biotech Revolution * Halycon Drift (Hooded Swan #1) * The Haunted Bookshop and Other Apparitions * In the Flesh and Other Tales of the Biotech Revolution * The Innsmouth Heritage and Other Sequels * Journey to the Core of Creation: A Romance of Evolution * Kiss the Goat: A Twenty-First-Century Ghost Story * Luscinia: A Romance of Nightingales and Roses * The Mad Trist: A Romance of Bibliomania * The Moment of Truth: A Novel of the Future * Nature’s Shift: A Tale of the Biotech Revolution * An Oasis of Horror: Decadent Tales and Contes Cruels * The Paradise Game (Hooded Swan #4) * The Plurality of Worlds: A Sixteenth-Century Space Opera * Prelude to Eternity: A Romance of the First Time Machine * Promised Land (Hooded Swan #3) * The Quintessence of August: A Romance of Possession * The Return of the Djinn and Other Black Melodramas * Rhapsody in Black (Hooded Swan #2) * Salome and Other Decadent Fantasies * Streaking: A Novel of Probability * Swan Song (Hooded Swan #6) * The Tree of Life and Other Tales of the Biotech Revolution * The Undead: A Tale of the Biotech Revolution * Valdemar’s Daughter: A Romance of Mesmerism * Wildeblood’s Empire (Daedalus Mission #3) * The World Beyond: A Sequel to S. Fowler Wright’s The World Below * Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction * Xeno’s Paradox: A Tale of the Biotech Revolution * Zombies Don’t Cry: A Tale of the Biotech Revolution
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