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“Makes me think of the Raj,” the one-armed man said, as if he hadn’t heard Biryar “That was a weird thing, wasn’t it? Dinky-ass little Britain using maybe a hundred thousand people to keep their boots on three hundred uns ever, and those odds still suck No, I do not envy you Not even a little bit”
Biryar’s s about theof history leaves so to be desired”
The ed his real shoulder “Maybe that part There’s other bits of history I know better You ever hear the question ‘Silver or lead?’”
Biryar shook his head “I don’t believe so What’s your name? Who are you with?”
“My friends callHis teeth were the color of old ivory “So anyway, there was this thing way back when They used to have these huge recreational drug coal And when soet elected or whatever, the question was: silver or lead? Plata o plomo Does the new sheriff in town take a bribe or a bullet? Hell of a slogan It’s si down You have to admire that”
Biryar’s exhaustion fell away His heart began to tap at his ribs, but he didn’t feel panicked His mind was cold and sharp, and he was suddenly very present “Are you threatening me?”
“What? Jesus, no We’re just a couple guys talking history” The old ht he was going to light his cigar, but instead the old man placed the little device on the sill with a percussive tap He stepped back fro one side
Biryar gestured to it with his chin, asking the question without speaking
“It’s a token for the local exchange network,” the one-armed man said “It’s tied to a private, anonymized account with about fifteen thousand new-francs in it That’s enough to buy even someone like you a little privacy”
“For what?”
The e”
Biryar stepped carefully to theand picked up the token The resin looked like slass Obsidian The old man smiled until Biryar dropped it to the floor, put his heel on it, and ground it against the brick The one-arone, and Biryar kneas facing a predator
“Are you sure about that?” the old man asked
“Don’t make me raise my voice This is my house And there are a lot of arht now,” Biryar said
The man smiled “There are And some of them are probably pretty loyal to you Others,man?”