Read Online Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell - Free Book Online
Authors: Tobias S. Buckell
Ads: Link
… Minister.” He choked on the words.
Dihana stood up and extended an ink-stained hand. “Mr. Councilman. This is a pleasant interlude in a long day.” The man looked at her with suspicion. “I trust,” Dihana continued sweetly, “you are adjusting well to your accommodations on the Ministerial Grounds?”
“You talking strange,” he said. “You mocking me?”
Dihana cleared a swath of space on her desk. A few letters fluttered to the floor beside the desk. She thickened her accent, easy to do with all the bottled-up anger in her. “It was unpleasant when you had all run away like a bunch of yellow-belly when Elijah die and left me to be prime minister. I ain’t too sympathetic, seen? And I remember your name, Councilman: Emil. Sit.”
Emil sat. “You ain’t strong enough to protect we. Elijah couldn’t protect himself, how better you go do? We too important to sit in the open just to help you .” He folded his hands and bit his lip. “We been here since the beginning. We go still be here long after you die.”
Dihana ground her teeth. The Councilmen were hundreds of years old, just as her father had been. They should have worked with her. She could have done great things with their ancient knowledge.
Maybe she still could.
“You think because you have Nana in your blood you’re superior,” Dihana said. Emil looked startled. Yes, Dihana knew what kept the Councilmen almost immortal. Elijah had tried to explain Nana, but the young Dihana had been hurt and confused when he’d said she didn’t have them. “Why not?” Dihana had demanded. “Why can’t you give me Nana as well?”
Elijah had sat stiffly on the other side of the minister’s desk. “I wish I could,” he had said. “The Loa say they can, but I don’t think they’re right, though they promise me—” She wondered later how painful it must have been for him to live knowing he’d see her die.
“So then we should do it, we should try to make Nana again, like the old-fathers did,” Dihana had said.
That had brought a dangerous glint to Elijah’s eye. “No. We can’t.”
And that was how that remained. Always. Until he died. Shot through the heart by an Azteca assassin.
“Nana wasn’t enough to save him,” Dihana told Emil. “A bullet for him was like a bullet for anyone else.”
Emil shifted, maybe reminded of his own mortality. “We know.”
Dihana stopped moving the letter opener from hand to hand. She pointed the silver point at him. “Why did you run? With all the knowledge you have? You could have helped.”
Emil crossed his legs and grabbed his knees. “You bring electric light here, right? You and the Preservationist know how it work. But you think the people in the city using it know? All they know is they turn the switch on or off, or replace a bad bulb.”
Dihana understood. “You’re ignorant. In the middle of wonders, you just accepted them, never understood them. And when they were taken, you didn’t know how to bring them back.” Strung along by her father’s promises of technology from the Loa and giving him their full support. Dihana now saw them through adult eyes. “Do any of you know anything useful?”
“Of course.” Emil straightened his back, insulted.
Dihana picked up an opened letter and started folding it to keep her fingers busy. “What things?”
“History, real events, explanations. We remember the real thing, not any legend,” Emil said, talking up his percieved importance.
“Okay,” Dihana said, trap set. She put the paper down. “Talk with the Preservationists. Have them come here to you. Tell them everything you know. Everything . And I’ll be reading their notes.”
Emil nodded. He didn’t get up though.
“We have a favor to ask,” he said. “We missing a man. He out with the Frenchi. We want mongoose-men to bring him back.”
“Why?” And why did they need mongoose-men to
fetch him? Were the Councilmen pushing at her more? She bit down the impulse to
Dihana stood up and extended an ink-stained hand. “Mr. Councilman. This is a pleasant interlude in a long day.” The man looked at her with suspicion. “I trust,” Dihana continued sweetly, “you are adjusting well to your accommodations on the Ministerial Grounds?”
“You talking strange,” he said. “You mocking me?”
Dihana cleared a swath of space on her desk. A few letters fluttered to the floor beside the desk. She thickened her accent, easy to do with all the bottled-up anger in her. “It was unpleasant when you had all run away like a bunch of yellow-belly when Elijah die and left me to be prime minister. I ain’t too sympathetic, seen? And I remember your name, Councilman: Emil. Sit.”
Emil sat. “You ain’t strong enough to protect we. Elijah couldn’t protect himself, how better you go do? We too important to sit in the open just to help you .” He folded his hands and bit his lip. “We been here since the beginning. We go still be here long after you die.”
Dihana ground her teeth. The Councilmen were hundreds of years old, just as her father had been. They should have worked with her. She could have done great things with their ancient knowledge.
Maybe she still could.
“You think because you have Nana in your blood you’re superior,” Dihana said. Emil looked startled. Yes, Dihana knew what kept the Councilmen almost immortal. Elijah had tried to explain Nana, but the young Dihana had been hurt and confused when he’d said she didn’t have them. “Why not?” Dihana had demanded. “Why can’t you give me Nana as well?”
Elijah had sat stiffly on the other side of the minister’s desk. “I wish I could,” he had said. “The Loa say they can, but I don’t think they’re right, though they promise me—” She wondered later how painful it must have been for him to live knowing he’d see her die.
“So then we should do it, we should try to make Nana again, like the old-fathers did,” Dihana had said.
That had brought a dangerous glint to Elijah’s eye. “No. We can’t.”
And that was how that remained. Always. Until he died. Shot through the heart by an Azteca assassin.
“Nana wasn’t enough to save him,” Dihana told Emil. “A bullet for him was like a bullet for anyone else.”
Emil shifted, maybe reminded of his own mortality. “We know.”
Dihana stopped moving the letter opener from hand to hand. She pointed the silver point at him. “Why did you run? With all the knowledge you have? You could have helped.”
Emil crossed his legs and grabbed his knees. “You bring electric light here, right? You and the Preservationist know how it work. But you think the people in the city using it know? All they know is they turn the switch on or off, or replace a bad bulb.”
Dihana understood. “You’re ignorant. In the middle of wonders, you just accepted them, never understood them. And when they were taken, you didn’t know how to bring them back.” Strung along by her father’s promises of technology from the Loa and giving him their full support. Dihana now saw them through adult eyes. “Do any of you know anything useful?”
“Of course.” Emil straightened his back, insulted.
Dihana picked up an opened letter and started folding it to keep her fingers busy. “What things?”
“History, real events, explanations. We remember the real thing, not any legend,” Emil said, talking up his percieved importance.
“Okay,” Dihana said, trap set. She put the paper down. “Talk with the Preservationists. Have them come here to you. Tell them everything you know. Everything . And I’ll be reading their notes.”
Emil nodded. He didn’t get up though.
“We have a favor to ask,” he said. “We missing a man. He out with the Frenchi. We want mongoose-men to bring him back.”
“Why?” And why did they need mongoose-men to
fetch him? Were the Councilmen pushing at her more? She bit down the impulse to
Similar Books
