Page 167 (2/2)

He didn't know if the English still drank their tea or the French their chaia Control guzzled Royal Pep Cola from dawn to dusk, with the "thousand and then some" flavor variations the Royal Pep Cola cos and nine additives

As wily oer, Macon calculated each purchase on a cost-versus-benefit analysis He didn't enjoy this part of the job at all-though there orse duties His least favorite were his rare ventures into the dripping confines of the boss's home carbuncle-but if one wanted to rise in the Control one did the Unpleasant, for no other reason than to avoid the More Unpleasant that was the lot of the groceries

He exchanged a glance with the angular young tough behind the counter Muscles bulged under as once a white T-shirt, tattooing on his right hand indicated he'd done a prison terave him a friendly nod

"Water, and aa seat at the end of the counter where he could scan the room

Water appeared, in battered plastic, slightly green-the water, not the plastic-no ice

"There's theto a painted and repainted stretch of wall over the kitchen

If you want to rise, do the difficult, his uard used to say The old pederast had his faults, but he'd built a comfortable, and damn near inviolable, niche in the Control

Unlike the rest of the Advancing World, the Georgia Control had huroceries Not just the usual disposal of the inconvenient and abrasive by the top dogs in the hierarchy Not soued to the Kurians that hu out weakness, wrongdoing, and rebellion The Kurians weren't particular As long as the vital aura of culled humans flowed, and the rest of the population re, they were inclined to let their huures into spreadsheets deter who contributed to society and who ended up a net loss at the bottom line

Macon approved of the syste the Control a little bit of leverage There were even rumors that a Kurian or tho'd been problematic in its demands had been removed thanks to subtle hints and pressure from the Directors

Outside the well-patrolled borders of the Georgia Control-an area a good deal larger than the old state, and growing, its Directors were proud to report-you didn't have neat little lists and the quiet nightly pickup squads One had to use judgement, and Macon had observed only a few excursions and the requisite grocery-selecting

So fodder for the Kurians Feanted the job, and usually the ones anted it sought the authority for all the wrong reasons What sort of diseased character would want to do such a thing? Macon thought of hi the systeobble up pathogens, the rest of the bloodstream was the better for it A white blood cell that acted out of erandizement, or plain cruelty would do harm to the system

As a junior sibling where his eldest sister was helping their father run reatest city as heir-apparent urban director, he'd have to make his oay and rise on his ownsons in the old aristocracies

So when a new group of Kurians sent out word that they were seeking seed-staff for expansion into Kentucky, he volunteered for the position of "Ghoul Wrangler" as the less-ambitious liked to style it His actual title in the Control's orgbasewith only a single phrasing period-if he rose to the vice-director level they'd start using coant touch for those at that exalted level Of course, there was that dreadful word "unincorporated" and the orgbase inactive rolls were filled with listings of aaions

Unincorporated or no, he received a Personal Utility Transport with only 24 kils on the odometer, no visible bullet holes, and a new field-brown paint job with his na slot

His blue-black Model 18 subift from some connection of his father at the Atlanta Gunworks, rode across his chest like a clinging bat The counter an enemy's waterskin