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At the base of the ed final words The other teahout the Horound until they heard the detonation in the stadiunal to commence their assaults Only Hollis and Michael would move sooner There was no way to predict the moment to act; they would have to follow their instincts

"Good luck," Peter said The three men shook hands, then, when this seemed inadequate, embraced Lore rose on tiptoes to kiss Hollis on his bearded cheek

"Re for you You’ll find her, I know it"

Hollis and Michael one With handshakes all around and wishes for luck, the other groups departed behind the; all of them had wet feet, their shoes soaked by the fetid waters Eustace earing an olive jacket, the deadly cargo concealed beneath Nobody spoke, but the silence that encased the man ran deeper In a private moment, Eustace had assured Peter that there was silad to do it, in fact Many people had been sent to their deaths at his orders It was only right that his turn should come

It was a little after 1700 hours when, fro We need to move"

They would exit one at a ti lay beneath a pickup truck that a member of Nina’s team had left in place on the south side of the stadium Sooner or later it would be noticed and re there?-but so far it had escaped attention From the manhole each of the into the stadium A tricky moment, but only the first of many

Eustace went first Greer watched from the top of the ladder "Okay," he said, "I think he made it"

Lore and Greer followed Once inside, they would rendezvous at specific points within the structure Alicia would be the next to last; Tifty would bring up the rear Peter got into position at the base of the ladder Alicia was standing behind hiuised in a flatlander’s scratchy tunic and trousers

"Sorry about your arm," he said, for the hundredth ti way It was the first smile he’d seen in days "Hell, it was probably about time one of us shot the other We’ve practically done everything else I’ scene," Tifty said dryly, "but we really have to go"

Peter hesitated; he didn’t want those words to be the last thing the two of theet your chance, didn’t I?" Alicia hugged hi I’ll see you when the dust settles"

And yet she did not look at hilance with misted eyes

The question before him was this: what the hell should he wear?

The era of suits and ties had come to an end for Horace Guilder That part of his life was over A suit was the outfit of a governh priest of the Te He’d never been to church much, even as a kid His mother took him once in a while, but his father never went But as Guilder recalled it, so the lines of a dress

"Suresh!"

The ht he was His face ollen and pink; his brows and lashes had been scorched away, giving his eyes a startled appearance He had cuts and bruises all over, puckered and raw-looking It would all pass in a few days, but in the meantime the man looked like a cross between an Easter ha match

"Get me an attendant’s robe"

"What for?"

Guilder waved hi one"

The su for some explanation for Guilder’s curious request, or perhaps just looking forward to the sight of Guilder wriggling into the thing

"Don’t you have soht you wanted me to stay here"

"Jesus, don’t be dense Go see about the car"

Suresh hobbled away Guilder positioned hiown held before hi to look like a clown in this thing But the clock was ticking; HR would be bringing the flatlanders into the stadium any minute A little delay wasn’t necessarily bad-it would raet to be an issue if he dawdled for too long Best to face the e in the mirror wasn’t a clown after all,was utterly shapeless He removed a pair of neckties froether, and cinched the waist A definite i The priests he recalled froion had alorn some kind of shawl Guilder went to theThe drapes were held against thefraolden ropes with tassels at the ends He unhooked the at his waist, and returned to theabout religion or, for that matter, fashion What a shock it would be to historians of the future to learn that Horace Guilder, High Priest of the Te, Rebuilder of Civilization, Shepherd of the Dawn of the New Age of Cooperation Between Human and Viral, had sanctified himself with a pair of curtain tiebacks

He opened the door to find Suresh waiting for him The man’s bald eyes widened

"Don’t say a word"

"I wasn’t going to"

"Well, don’t"

They rode the elevator to the lobby The building was strikingly silent; Guilder had sent most of his personal detachment to the stadiu the stadiu, chuffing exhaust into the cold: Guilder’s car, the seo, a pair of escort trucks, and a security van He walked briskly to the van, where two cols were standing at the rear One thing about a priest’s vestht He should have brought a coat

"Open it"

It was hard to believe that the figure seated before hiht have been considered pretty, if Guilder’s thoughts ran in that direction Not that she was dainty-she wasn’t Underneath the swelling and discoloration, she was obviously a solid speci features, a taut, muscular fraination, Sergio had always been a man, and not just any man; the mental portrait he’d concocted was a knockoff of Che Guevara, some banana republic revolutionary with eyes like pinpricks and a scraggly beard This was Joan of Arc