ORCS: Army of Shadows by Stan Nicholls Page A

conclusion is open to question.”
    “And you, sir? Do you think they have some buried appetite for combat?”
    Hacher turned and surveyed the city. “Perhaps we’re about to find out.”
    At one of the resistance’s safe houses, hidden in the tangle of the troubled capital’s back streets, Jode Pepperdyne and Micalor
     Standeven had found a secluded room.
    “How often do I have to tell you?” Standeven angrily protested.
    “Try me one more time,” Pepperdyne said.
    “I had nothing to do with Coilla’s star going missing!”
    “Why do I find that hard to believe?”
    “So why do you bother asking me? You know, back where we come from, your badgering would have been seen as gross disobedience.”
    Pepperdyne laughed in his face. “But we’re not there, are we?”
    “More’s the pity.”
    “I don’t like being stuck in this world any more than you do. Assuming you
do
mind.”
    “What’s
that
supposed to mean?”
    “If the stars hadn’t gone missing we wouldn’t be here.”
    “
And that had nothing to do with me
,” Standeven repeated.
    “So you say. But given we are stranded here, why do you keep needling the band? They’re the only allies we’ve got, and they
     don’t trust us.”
    “They never did.”
    “Speak for yourself.”
    “They’re
orcs
. Humans aren’t exactly their favourite race, in case you hadn’t noticed what they’re doing to them here.”
    “I think they know when somebody’s treating them straight. Most of them, anyway.”
    “You’re a fool, Pepperdyne. The only reason we’re still with them, why we’re still
alive
, is because it suits them. Don’t go misplacing your trust.”
    “What, I should put it in
you
?”
    “You could do worse.”
    “Only if I’d gone insane.”
    Standeven’s bile was rising again. “You might do well,” he uttered vindictively, “to think about your position if we ever
     get back home.”
    “Your threats don’t wash here. Or hasn’t that dawned on you yet?”
    “I’m just reminding you what our relative positions were, and how they could be that way again. How you behave here’s going
     to have a bearing on how I choose to treat you in future.”
    “You don’t get it, do you? The way things are going, we might not
have
a future. And if we’re into reminding each other about events, remember that you wouldn’t be here… hell, you wouldn’t
be
at all, if it hadn’t been for me.”
    “One of your obligations is to look after your master’s safety. It’s your duty!”
    Pepperdyne lunged and grabbed him by the scruff. “If you think you don’t owe me your life, maybe I’ll take it back.”
    “Take your filthy hands off me, you —”
    The door opened.
    Pepperdyne let go of Standeven.
    Coilla came in. “Jode? Are you —Oh.”
    Standeven transferred his red-faced glare from Pepperdyne to her. “
Don’t mind me
,” he snarled. Shoving past her, he left.
    “Let him go,” Pepperdyne said.
    “I wasn’t thinking of stopping him,” Coilla replied. She closed the door. “You were arguing.”
    “Very perceptive.”
    “If you want to be let alone I can —”
    “Sorry.” His tone was conciliatory. “It’s just that he gets under my skin.”
    “You’re not alone.”
    He nodded. “What was it you wanted, Coilla?”
    “Well, first off, I thought you could use some of this.” She handed him a brandy flask.
    He accepted it, took a swig and gave it back. “And second?”
    “You two left in such a hurry, I just wanted you to know that not everybody in the band thinks badly of you.”
    “What, both of us? Me and… him?” He nodded at the door.
    “I was thinking of you.”
    “Thanks.” He smiled. “But I reckon you’re in a minority of one.”
    “Oh, I don’t know. I reckon Stryke has some regard for you. Maybe a couple of the others.”
    “They’ve a funny way of showing it.”
    “You’ve got to understand how it is between orcs and humans. And not just in this world. We’ve got…