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All they could see were dozens of crates lashed together with nylon bands and secured to s set in the floor Most of the crates wereplastic; but a feere est ooden

"What can you see?" whispered Nix

"Nothingcrates and boxes"

"Boxes of what?"

"Don’t know Probably not puppies, apple pie, and new baseball gloves Prettyfor sounds and hearing only his own nervous breathing The cargo bay stretched past the stacks of crates and vanished into the gloom He had all-weather matches in his vest, but he didn’t really want to put down his sword long enough to fish one out and light it Not yet

The floor creaked under his weight, and Benny remembered all the cracks he’d seen in the plane’s crippled body

A soft scuff behind hiun out?" he asked very quietly

"Yes"

"Put it away I don’t want to get a bullet in the back because another , but he heard the scrape of ht vision was kicking in, and he was able to make out some details There ords stenciled in black on some of the cases, and Benny mouthed them as he read the closest ones The wooden boxes had labels like:

MRE

LAB EQUIP

MED RECS

HAZMAT SUITS

The metal cases were labeled:

RPG

CLAYMORE MINES

LAW RKTS

M-249 SAW

M24 SWS

"What is this stuff?" Benny asked

"I have no idea It must all be lab equipment and science stuff"

Benny nodded and moved a few steps deeper into the darkness

"Do you hear anything?" whispered Nix

"No You?"

"No"

"That’s good," said Benny, and mentally added, I think

Heto sort out and identify the shapes of things he saw The pale light was too weak, and the shadows of the bay seemed impenetrable

Benny leaned toward Nix and spoke softly into her ear "Listen, I’ to walk down the center aisle Wait forhinky, I don’t want to have to run you down to get out of here This place gives me the super-creeps"

There was a faint rattle and then the scrape of a sulfurhis nostrils He winced and peered through the glare to see Nix holding out a o bay, even the pale light of the match revealed so much that was hidden

Vehicles chained to the floor

Banks of co loading hooks on chains attached to the ceiling

And beyond the rows of crates were row after row of metal chairs

Benny and Nix both froze in shock

People sat in the chairs They were dressed identically in one-piece jumpsuits At least two dozen of them wore yellow jureen

They were all dead

But all of thery eyes at Benny and Nix

Nix screamed

74

"HONORED ONE," BEGAN BROTHER PETER, "IF WE ARE TO DOUBT MOTHER Rose and any reapers she has led astray, then I think there is a matter that must be attended to"

Saint John’s face was bland "Which matter?"

"The Shrine of the Fallen"

"What about it?"

"The way Mother Rose protects it, denying everyone--even your own holy self--to enter it, there reat value hidden there"

"Value is relative," said the saint "Aof thirst each place a different value on a glass of water"

Brother Peter nodded, accepting the point, but doubt still chewed at him "She can’t possibly hope to take Sanctuary with only a few reapers What does she have--a hundred or till follow her? No, she must have some resource we don’t know about It has to be inside the shrine It was a military plane Surely there are some weapons aboard"

"I have no doubt"

"Then, Honored One, shouldn’t we take it instead?"

Saint John shook his head sadly "Even you, Peter? Even you?"

"I don’t--"

"You think there are weapons aboard that crashed airplane So do I Mother Rose knows it for sure She has done everything short of building a wall around the shrine to reed with her The plane represents the world that was Whether it is filled to its rafters with scientific research on how to cure the gray plague, or medical supplies to treat all the many diseases that have been with us since the Fall, or a battle tank, it doesn’t matter what is in that plane All of it is evil All of it is polluted"

"I understand that, Honored One," insisted Brother Peter, "but surely if we used such weapons, their nature would change As Mother Rose is so fond of saying, it is the intention thatup a sword and not the sword itself After all, you allowed us to use the quads, and they are from the old world"

"They are not weapons of war"

"Even so--"

Saint John held up a hand "I knohat you would advise me, Peter, and it would sound like wisdom to both of us It would even sound like a victory--to take soed with ill intent and turn it to a holy purpose"