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man s neck. He seemed oblivious to their presence as he addressed her.
 You ve caused an intolerable amount of harm, D onne Ge Sylvanus, but your
little jaunt is over now.
 Ah, Relli said.  Forgive me, noblesir, but please recall our agreement.
 Quite right, Relli, say your piece and get on with it then.
The figure slumped back in his seat, the skeletal hand at his neck faithfully
following the movement. Donna s scattered thoughts realised that it was a
medicae unit, a dedicated nurse, doctor and surgeon rolled into one. The count
was being treated for something an injury or poisoning perhaps? She suddenly
remembered the other person at the table.
Lars was looking not a day older than when she had seen him that day in the
arboretum. He at least was dressed for dinner in an immaculate chequer coat
and cravat. He smiled at Donna uncertainly and she suddenly realised how
different she must look to him. He probably barely recognised her at all.
D onne had seemed petite and demure; Donna had grown tall and imposing like
some barbarian queen. D onne had been a broken, frightened girl; Donna was a
fearless gang fighter grown used to life on the knife s edge. Shock was
written all over his face, but he looked her resolutely in the face (no doubt
with his guts squirming at the sight of her bionic eye) and said,  I told you
I would find you again one day, D onne.
 You were a fool to come down here, Lars, Donna snarled. She turned.  And
just who the hell do you think you are? Because you sure as crap aren t Count
Ko iron.
 Ah, nobledam, in that respect you are mistaken, Relli tried to sound
conciliatory.  Please, ah, please be seated so we can talk properly.
Donna treated him to a contemptuous look and took a seat as far from the
alleged count as possible. She noted that Relli s biggest Goliath was now
standing in front of the door, blocking the only way out.
She almost laughed when she saw the food laid on the table, high-class fare by
Underhive standards a king s banquet. To nobles from the Spire it was little
better than raw sewage, and lay completely untouched. Donna s guts were
churning with tension but she grabbed up a roasted haunch of rat to gnaw on in
the hopes it would upset the two nobles further. Relli seated himself between
Donna and the count.
 Ah, it s a great honour, of course, to have such esteemed persons as
yourselves as my guests, Relli began. Donna glared at him.
 Ah, well, there is a delicate balance at work here, nobledam. I should
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perhaps explain what has brought us together. I was first approached some time
ago by noblesir Polema with an exciting proposition, he gestured to Lars with
fat, ring-encrusted fingers,  to organise an expedition to a locale known
colloquially as  Dead Man s Hole .
Donna was suddenly back with Hanno again at Dust Falls, peering over his
shoulder at the little cogitator screen and trying to understand what DMH
stood for in the guilder records. Now she knew. Dead Man s Hole meant two
expeditions that had failed to return, twenty-one people lost. There was no
need to let Relli know she had uncovered that little tidbit of information
just yet, so Donna kept her mouth shut and waited to see what the guilder
would admit to.
 There have been some& difficulties in mounting a successful expedition to the
area, as it lies deep within the Badzones and a considerable distance from the
nearest settlement. However, the noblesir had convinced me that the rewards of
such an undertaking would stand to repay our efforts a thousandfold, and so we
turned to thoughts of how to secure our future success.
Lars was looking from Relli to Donna and back again as if he desperately
wanted to say something. Relli ignored him and continued.
 The noblesir had confided in me that the nobledam Ulanti had been known to
him through& prior association in the Spire. Knowing of the fearsome
reputation you have gained in the Underhive, nobledam, I had thought to locate
you in relation to our difficulties and contract your services to assist.
Donna eyed Relli critically. It sounded plausible enough except for two
things.
 Then why the bounty hunters and why him, she gestured at Ko iron.
 I had contracted Shallej Bak on a number of previous occasions and he had
been assisting me with the expeditions. He told me that he knew how to find
you and bring you here a simple letter in the right language, he said. I
apologise for his methods, nobledam, I had no idea they would turn out to be
so& direct. This noblesir arrived here barely two shifts ago, nobledam. He has
his own reasons for being here as is best explained by his good self.
Lars was almost bouncing up and down in his chair for attention by now but the
count and Relli were ignoring him.
 What s eating at you, Lars? Donna asked.
 D onne, I wanted to say I was never in favour of all this scheming, he said
in a rush,  I told Relli at the outset I should come and find you, that you
would listen to me 
 I would have slapped you silly and sent you back to the Spire. In fact, I may
well still do that. Donna took a bite out the rat haunch. Lars looked
crestfallen.
 Alright, that s enough! The count surged to his feet, and the medicae unit
hissed as it struggled to keep up with him.
 I didn t come down this dung hole to listen to all this rubbish.
He turned on Donna.
 I am Julius Ko iron, rightful heir of the House Ko iron and you are D onne
Ulanti who was betrothed to the heir of Ko iron. I demand you return with me
to the Spire and fulfil your family duties.
Donna laughed in his face.
 So, it s Julius is it? Piss off back to the Spire, Julius, before I kill you
like I did your big brother, Marneus.
 You didn t kill Marneus, you bitch! That would ve been kinder! The count s
face was bright red, and the skeletal fingers were rapidly massaging his neck
with their needle tips.
 Oh no, eight years fighting before insanity completely overtook him! Even now
he hides from the light, locked away in his apartments day and night. The new
Count Ko iron tottered and slumped back into his chair heavily.
Donna was shocked, her world broken in two. All this time she had been with
the murderous scum of the Underhive because she was convinced she belonged
there. Hiding and fighting and scraping an existence, all the time convinced
she had murdered a noble and so was worse than all the gun-scum and the bounty
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hunters around her. That s what she had told herself, time and again, that she
had joined the other dysfunctional killers in Necromunda down at the bottom,
in the Underhive, because there was nowhere else to go.
But was she any better than that really? Julius had said his brother had gone
mad, doubtless tormented by the memory of how she had unmanned him her, a mere
woman after all. Somehow she felt now she was better than a murderer. What she
had done to Marneus was one thing, what he had done to himself afterwards was
another. She realised Relli was speaking again and probably had been for a
while as she was lost in her thoughts. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]