"Jay Lake - To Live Forever" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lake Jay)

Dismas shrugged. тАЬSomeone who took the name of Battiste, thought him a
powerful man to be. I make it a policy to look to the future, not the past.тАЭ

Gestas sipped his swamp ale before answering. тАЬAt least you have a past.тАЭ

****

тАЬOnce I start working it, theyтАЩll know. They wonтАЩt know where, not right
away, but theyтАЩll find it.тАЭ The smith shuffled the spilled masses of iron coins that
covered the library floor in DismasтАЩ manor. Ahasuerus was careful not to touch them
with his feet.

A thin new moon spilled gentle violet light through the tall windows. Gas jets
on the wall guttered at their tightest choke, just enough to fill the room with shadows,
while keeping it as chill as the night outside.

тАЬHow?тАЭ asked Dismas.

Ahasuerus shrugged. тАЬOur best guess was that the Children are extremely
sensitive to magnetic distortions. You were smart to bring the coins here. The iron
rods in these First Emigration walls will mask the coins. ItтАЩll take a while, but the
Children will find the coins here. Then, poof...тАЭ Ahasuerus pointed a finger at
Dismas, then Gestas. тАЬThen youтАЩre Childshot. If youтАЩre lucky. There are worse
fates.тАЭ

тАЬWhy did this place stand?тАЭ Gestas asked.

The smith shrugged. тАЬHigh on the limestone ridge, away from earth and water
where the Children are strongest. Low on the disposal list, never got to it before
everyone got lazy and slow. Who knows? Structural iron doesnтАЩt bother them as
much. ItтАЩs cold iron, free in a manтАЩs hand, that spells trouble.тАЭ He kicked at one of
the rotted sacks still enclosing portions of the hoard. тАЬI need to work it up here.
DonтАЩt fancy transporting this stuff across town.тАЭ

тАЬWhat are you going to make?тАЭ Dismas asked. This had been a potentially
fatal flaw in their plans. They knew the worth of iron, from legend, from tales told by
firelight, from the strength of effort the Children put into dispersing it. The Children
were vulnerable to iron. Neither Dismas nor Gestas knew precisely why. That was
one reason they needed Ahasuerus.

The smith smiled his gapped, yellow smile, teeth gleaming in the dim light of
the gas jets. тАЬOh, I designed a Child trap a couple of centuries ago. Clever little
thing, uses less than a quarter pound of steel. Perhaps five or six of those coins,
melted down. We could make almost two thousand of them from your hoard. The
question is, how to use them?тАЭ

Dismas unfolded himself from a maroon leather wingback chair. He began to
pace the room, orbiting outside the smithтАЩs tight circuit of the spilled coins as his
cane tapped the carpeted floor. тАЬThey will feel the approach.тАЭ