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"Nicely done," Greer whispered

They retrieved their weapons: a pair of old revolvers, which they would use only as a last resort, and two blades, six inches long with curved steel po ushered into place Greer marveled at the flatlanders’ orderliness, the numb submission hich they allowed themselves to be led They were slaves but didn’t know it-or perhaps they did but had long since accepted the fact All of them? Maybe not all The ones who hadn’t would be the deciding factor

"Would you like to pray with me?" he said

Lore looked at him skeptically "It’s been a while I’ each other on their knees "Take my hands," Greer said "Close your eyes"

"That’s it?"

"Try not to think I"

She accepted his hands, her face faintly embarrassed Her pal you were going to say so, the way the sisters do Holy this and God bless that"

He shook his head "Not this time"

Greer watched her close her eyes, then did so hi warmth In another y beyond thought Orong Greer felt pain Terrible pain Then the pain was gone, subsumed by a darkness It rolled over his consciousness like a shadow crossing a field An eclipse of death, terror, black evil

I aht-Martinez-Reinhardt

He jolted away The spell was broken; he was back in the world What had he seen? The Twelve, yes, but as the other? Whose pain had he felt? Lore, still kneeling, her empty hands outstretched, had experienced it, too: Greer could see it in her shocked face

"Who’s Wolgast?" she said

Lila’s feet seeround as she walked down the corridor toward the atriu of invincibility to her actions; once made, certain decisions could not be undone The stairs she sought were situated at the end of a long hallway on the opposite side of the building As she turned the corner she broke into a run, headed for the door as if pursued The heavyset guard rose frooing?"

"Please," she gasped, "I’et out of here"

Lila lifted her veil "Do you knoho I auard startled "I’m sorry, ma’am," he stammered "Of course"

He pulled the key from a cord affixed to his belt and fit it into the lock

"Thank you," Lila said, odsend"

She descended the stairs At the botto before the steel door that led to the blood-processing facility She hadn’t been down here in many years, but she remembered it clearly in all its erators, the bags of blood, the sweet sht The guard atching her with his hand resting on the butt of his pistol Lila had never fired a gun in her life She hoped it wasn’t hard

She stepped toward hi her face at the last instant to look him deeply in the eyes

"You’re tired"

Concealed behind the dugout on the north side of the stadiuazine froinary dust fro it into place with the base of her palazine ten tiun was a 45ACP with a cross-hatched wooden handle, twelve rounds in each clip Twelve, thought Alicia, and noted the irony Strange, and not unpleasing, how the universe soh the crowd Alicia rose on her knees to peer out at the field Had it begun? A curious object was being towed into the field-a Y-shaped steel arh, affixed to a broad platfor from the booms at the top The truck halted in the ed back to the trailer They slid blocks under the tires, winched up the nose, unhooked the trailer from the truck, and drove away

She h twine to her thigh She freed it and slid it into her belt

Aht, Amy, my sister in blood All I ask is this

Let me be the one to kill Martinez

As the line of vehicles came to a halt outside the ling from the collision with the van They were lucky it hadn’t been worse

But if he’d thought their safe arrival would bring relief, the sight of the stadiuht in the winter dark, quickly disabused him of this notion He exited the car to an i-these people were much too cowed for that-but a crowd of seventy thousand in one place made a noise of its own, intrinsic to its ; seventy thousand pairs of idle feet bobbing; seventy thousand backsides shifting on ceet co, babies crying, but mostly what Guilder heard was a sort of subterranean rumble, like the aftershock of an earthquake

"Get her in place," he said

The guards yanked her from the van Guilder didn’t feel the need to look at her as they dragged her away He signaled to Suresh to have the selided up the raht to the eantry was called for He’d struggled hat to do until he’d coue: the orchestrated arrival on the field of play of a er, coordinating the various visual and auditory ele’s deone through the ite, display They’d done a dry run that afternoon A few proble that couldn’t be dealt with, and Suresh had assured hi would come off without a hitch

They , did his best to keep up HR personnel lined both sides of the idling semi; the staff had already been seated in the lower boxes The noise of the crowd see hiy The plows had swept the field of snow, leaving behind a muddy landscape; in the center, the platform and armature awaited A nifty device: it was Suresh who’d coency had nearly blown him up; ouldn’t be a little mad? As a physician he also see ways to kill people Suspending her high in the air would give everyone a chance to see her insides unraveling; she’d feel er

While Guilder reviewed his notes, Suresh fitted hi the cable down his back to the transmitter, which he clipped to Guilder’s improvised belt of neckties "Flick this here," Suresh said, drawing his attention to the toggle switch, "and you’re on"

Suresh backed away He dren his earphones, adjusted his an the countdown:

"Sound booth"

(Check)

"Lights"