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The Duke of Rush wore a red unifor band outfit and half toreador costuaudily set off his pale skin and black hair A brass ring, the first Valentine had ever seen, hung froolden chain around his neck Bored blue eyes stared up at the crew of the White Lightning
The Duke&039;s o Quislings, and the card-playing woeuns were evident, but the blackand shutting it with quick flicks of the wrist
"Captain, we expected you hours ago," the Duke said in an educated accent "You kno I hate it when uns to insurgents?"
Doss let a si to wear You always make such an entrance I decided it would be better to let you enter first"
"You don&039;t need to dress for this dive, Captain The only reason I&039; my best is that the purported reason for this trip is social I spent the day calling on the Kur here and arranging beer trucks for Chicago But our business is going to be much more lucrative May we see the merchandise?"
The black h to push a chair forward for Doss She sat "Put the bills on the table, and you&039;ll see it," she said
The Duke gestured to a lieutenant, who opened a leather satchel and drew out a sheaf of papers Captain Doss pulled out a es one at a ti printed red-and-blue tape
"Eight firearood," she counted to herself "Five labor vouchers twelve supply vouchers, sixteen eighteen twenty passports Three dockyard releases Hey, wait a second The dockyard releases aren&039;t signed and sealed, my friend!"
The Duke sht on my part I&039;ll make it up to you next ti You want it, get these filled out properly, and you can have it," she said firmly
"Oh, very well Have it your way, Captain We&039;ll take one bag less now, and I&039;ll see if I can get the sign-offs for your next run Though it breaksout the snuff, and we&039;ll see if your color is worth all this"
Valentine and Harper, on cue, placed their barrels in front of Silvertongue, who popped the lids with a knife of her own It was full of cluar She upended the barrels one at a tiar on the floor Glass test tubes filled hite powder soon eathered up two dozen tubes and placed the the cards and chips on the table
Captain Doss took two of the tubes and pocketed theerly "Test it, my dear" -The woman in the cocktail dress pulled a vial of clear liquid fro She uncorked one of the tubes, licked a toothpick and coated it with the powder, then stirred it in the vial, which turned an azure blue
"They don&039;t call ," the Duke quipped Valentine forced a laugh, but the captain and her nored him
"Can I take the bills now?" the captain asked
"Of course, Captain But I think this calls for a celebration The drinks are on the Duke tonight, and your crew is invited, of course"
Doss rose froet when I&039;, too Maybe next ti crestfallen expressions to the Quislings
Harper patted Valentine on the shoulder "Duty calls"
"It&039;s not calling that loudly," Valentine demurred "Captain, may I stay for a while?"
Captain Doss shot hilance "Just be back by dawn And I ht with or without you"
"Thank you, Captain I&039;ll be there"
"Finally one of your little flock shows sohed as the other sailors exited "Ask anyone in Chicago, no one parties like the Duke What&039;s your name, son?"
"Dave, Mr Duke Dave Tiny"
The Duke clapped hi friends with traveling people, never knohen they&039;ll shoith so"
A knock sounded at the door
"Duke, it&039;s your other appointment," Butterfly Knife said
"Oh, yeah Tiny, you keep quiet; youyou won&039;t see sailing with Doss, that&039;s for sure I need to get a little dispute resolved"
The man with the butterfly knife opened the door, and two neatly dressed men and a woman entered
"Thanks for the invite to the party, Duke," the tallest of the three said Valentine noted he wore a wide brass ring sier rather than on a chain
"Good you could make it, Hoppy," the Duke said with a s ht be tired of my company"
Valentine felt a shiver, but it had nothing to do with the nasty glint in the Duke&039;s eye There were Reapers outside He thought ofup an excuse to leave, but decided to obey the Duke&039;s order to reht your assistant, but you didn&039;t have to bring the
"Gail Allenby takes care of my professional life," Hoppy said "Andersen here is responsible for the physical one He uses a knife just as well in the kitchen as in an alley, by the way I&039;ll have you over for dinner tomorrow and prove it"
"I trust the cutlery will be ashed," the Duke responded "Thanks for the offer, but I have to get back to Chicago We need to get soht not want to honor that invite anyway"
Someone screamed in the main part of the bar, and Valentine heard chairs tip over Butterfly Knife opened the door again, and a Reaper entered the roo around ary yellow eyes A ure-at least, it appeared feold woven robe and a heavy hood, her face hidden behind a shining mask The mask was decorated only by a narrow eye slit; the rest was silvery, polished ht She did not so s unseen under the robe; Valentine heard no footsteps as she moved A second Reaper re the rapidly e, Lord Yuse-Uth," the Duke said, his face calm and serious
Valentine looked at Hoppy, who seemed to have lost three inches and twenty pounds since the Reaper and its Master Vampire had entered He focused all his attention on the blanching hts
"Lord, what need brings You here?" Hoppy stammered
"I asked Her to be present," the Duke said "You&039;ve been cheating me, Hopps"
"Never!"
"Past coupledry a lot We opened up soh to ski after we ain"
Hoppy, as apparently the factory ht for aI had no knowledge of this, Duke I&039;llpay north this shipment, and another ten percent less for the previous two" The Duke turned to Kurian "With winter co to be fifty, sixty less auras for the Milwaukee Families, my Lord"
The man in the sleeveless shirt spoke "Lord Yuse-Uth says that the breill make it up next year Her need is for the full allotment of auras"
"I don&039;t like to say no to a Lord," the Duke said, "but my own Lords may have some say in the matter Does She want a faction-war? That&039;d cost Her more I&039;ll split the difference, twenty-five fewer auras and you can make it up to me next year"
Theis revoked" Valentine was not sure if the grating voice came frorabbed Hoppy&039;s arht hand It took the ring, pulling off the finger as ith a sickening snap of tearing cartilage Hoppy screa in awe at the Reaper
"He is no longer under Lord Yuse-Uth&039;s protection," the Kurian&039;s speaker said, watching Hoppy try to squeeze off the blood flowing froit had been "Allenby, you are now the brewery er Lord Yuse-Uth trusts your deliveries will be co"
The wo away from her former supervisor "Thank You, my Lord," she quavered "Andersen, your contract with Mr Hoppy is terminated We will talk tomorrow about your future with the brewery Think about it"
"Y-yes
"Da the shipments," Hoppy swore
"Lord Yuse-Uth thanks you for bringing thisto the Duke "She looks forward to continued good relations and trade with Her Brethren in Chicago"
"I appreciate Her Lordship&039;s time," the Duke said
The Kurian, her speaker, and the Reapers departed, and Valentine found hiain
"Responsibility demands performance, Hoppy," the Duke said "Personally, I think you were cheating me" The Duke looked at the man with the butterfly knife "Make him shorter Permanently"
Valentine watched, his face as passive as the Kurian&039;s mask, as the ely ha the tendons at the back of his victim&039;s knees
"Guess they&039;ll call you Crawly now," the Duke said "Ms Allenby, take that trash out with you as you leave Due on the dock I&039;ll talk to you in thewe can come to"
None of the Duke&039;s coed the bleeding, weeping wretch outside The Duke&039;s craggy face split into a s decent, Palmers And a couple cases of Miller, in sealed bottles I&039;old Join ain into her purse for aI am"
Twenty-odd beers, three bottles, anddown the Bunker Still behind the wire, Adolph counted out most of the contents of the Duke&039;s purse One bartender reed outside, and the waitress sat in the bodyguard&039;s lap Her bikini top rested on the closed eyes of Butterfly Knife, who had downed almost a whole bottle of the unlabeled house busthead Behind the toilet curtain, Denise&039;s shapely ankles with the blue dress around them twitched in time to the music Valentine, who had drunk only a little booze while appearing to drink a lot, sat on the sawdust floor with his back to the jukebox, leaning up against the Duke
Valentine had discovered a passion in the Duke for bad jokes and dirty songs The ringholder had announced earlier in the evening, "This bar reminds me of what happens when you cross a Geret someone too drunk to follow orders" After that the Wolf had dredged his brain for every mossy old chestnut he could remember fro with his nautical disguise, he taught the Duke of Rush all the lines he could remember of &039;The Good Ship Venus"
"The cabin boy, the cabin boy, the dirty little nipper I Put ground glass inside his ass and circu at the end of each verse
Eva Stepanicz rested in the ar, there more to keep an eye on Valentine per the captain&039;s orders than to enjoy herself A sun when she returned to the bar to find out what had transpired during the Kurian visit She possessed an al her the choice for this particular assign his beer-fumed breath toward the floor
The bartender returned froue
"Okay, Tiny, on your feet Day&039;s breaking, and the captain wants you and Stepanicz back"
Stepanicz clih
Valentine looked up at the first mate from beneath his red Bunker T-shirt, worn pharaoh-style on his head "C&039;mon, Silver No reason she can&039;t wait another hour or two Shove off," he slurred, ue than alcohol
"Stepanicz, let&039;s get hiue ordered The tomen each took an arm and pulled Valentine to his feet Valentine winked at Silvertongue
"I said shove off!" he shouted, startling the Quislings frorabbed a head of hair in each hand and seeed it so his hands absorbed an a seht even the passed-out Denise from her toilet-seat nap The men roared approval every time Valentine knocked one of the woside cheered whenever Stepanicz or Silvertongue landed a punch The bare-breasted barhop had placed her pinkies in her ht the fight to a close with a powerful, accurate, and all-too-realistic kick in the proper place Valentine folded like the Quisling&039;s butterfly knife and dropped to the ground
The Duke of Rush staggered to his feet, absently brushing sawdust froarish unifor drinking buddy sit up
"Better get back to your ship, Tiny Guess they weren&039;t tiny enough, heh?"
Valentine ed a pained so, look e of R and R, that&039;s rest and relaxation, you know, for those wise enough to join up with the Kurians My place is above a group of bars called the Clubs Flush On Rush Street, it&039;s easy to find &039;cause it&039;s the part of the city lit up at night, unless you count the Zoo I cater to the cre orders frouy are about dying to get laid I&039;ll get you some on the house, okay?"
"Thanks, Duke," Valentine said, adjusting his trousers
"You&039;re my kind of people, Davy And," he added, more softly in Valentine&039;s ear, "if you can tie up to the big pier with another load of the white stuff as good as this, I&039;ll see to it that even if you dock a swabbie, you&039;ll sail out a captain, you knohat I mean? Just stop in and see me first, at the Clubs Flush, like I said I&039;ll treat you right"
Valentine roin "Thanks for the tip, sir"
With Silvertongue on one side and Stepanicz on the other, Valentine marched back to the ship, exhausted
"What was all that about, Valentine?" Silvertongue asked as they cli-carrying clown?"
"He&039;s a powerfulthe name of someone with that kind of influence can cohtning landed Harper and Valentine on a deserted stretch of beach north of where they first rendezvoused
"Sorry for the kick," Stepanicz said, shaking Valentine&039;s hand "No hard feelings?"
"No, &039;t don&039;t think it&039;ll be feeling, hard for a while," Valentine answered "But thanks for asking"
The captain presented theht all the way fro to help you out," she said, handing theraphy "You can always tell a Flotilla ship because the hite is in the nan version of white: blanc, weiss, soive them this card, and tell them I owe you a favor"
"Thanks, Captain Doss," Harper said
"Your servant, ma&039;a of dispatches addressed to Southern Co their feet in the waters of Lake Michigan, the weight of their rifles brought home the seriousness of the journey back
"Should we tell Gonzo about all this?" Harper asked
"Why?" Valentine said, responding with a twinkle in his eye "He justwith some sailors And what he doesn&039;t knoon&039;t piss him off But I&039;ll make it up to him He can have my Bunker souvenir T-shirt"