Shadow on the Sun by David Macinnis Gill Page B

away.”
    â€œWhy did you send him away?”
    â€œSo that you could heal.”
    â€œSo I healed without him. Now that I am whole again, I can live without him, but I choose not to.”
    â€œIf you cannot find Durango,” Ghannouj says, “then perhaps you should stop looking. You never were very good at hiding games, even as a child. Go back into the world. Be yourself, and then, if it is meant to be, he will find you.”
    â€œMaster, the problem is that I don’t know how to be myself anymore.” After a moment, she plucks one of the ribbons from her hair. She ties it into a knot, then begins shredding the ends. “I struck a man in Christchurch.”
    â€œWas he injured?”
    â€œTemporarily,” she says. “I revived him.”
    â€œSee? You have changed.” He slaps his knee. “Before, you would have left him in the dirt.”
    â€œTrue.” Vienne laughs. “You are too easy on me, master.”
    â€œYou are too hard on yourself. Someone must balance the equation.”
    In the distance, a gong rings, signaling that there is a visitor at the gate. In the years that Vienne lived in the monastery, the gong seldom sounded. Now, it is never still.
    â€œWould you be so kind,” Ghannouj says, “to answer the gong this time? I believe that the visitor is someone you know.”
    Vienne pops to her feet. She starts to run, then stops. She places her palms together, bows to Ghannouj, and then is off again, whispering to herself, “Let it be him.”
    Let it be Durango .

 
    Chapter √-1
    The Gulag
    Terminal: MUSEcommand — bash — 122x36
    Last login: 239.x.xx.xx:xx 12:12:09 on ttys0067
    Â 
    >...
    Â 
    AdjutantNod04:~ user_MUSE$
    SCREEN CRAWL: [root@mmiminode ~]
    SCREEN CRAWL: WARNING! VIRUS DETECTED! Node1666; kernal compromised (quarantine subroutine (log=32)....FAILED!
    Â 
    SCREEN CRAWL: External host access...GRANTED
    Â 
    ::new host$
    Â 
    AdjutantNod13:~ user_MIMT$
    Â 
    $ run StuffHisEarsWithWax.exe
    Â 
    /**
    The bootstrapping code below blocks shell access to user Stringfellow$”
    And deletes user_MUSE$ permanently from boot partition
    */
    Â 
    #!/usr/bin/xperl
    define(‘ROOT’,getcwd().DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
    define(‘INCLUDES’,ROOT.’includes’.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
    define(‘CONFIG’,ROOT.’config’.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
    include_once(CONFIG.’base.inc.rphp’);
    define(‘STATUS’,’production’);
    switch (STATUS) {
    case ‘production’: {
    ini_set(‘display_errors’,’Off’);
    }
    Â 
    
    RewriteEngine On
    Â 
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    Â 
    # Rewrite all other INCs to index.rphp/INC
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.rphp/$1 [PT,L]
    Â 
    SCREEN CRAWL: Press Y to delete User MUSE
    SCREEN CRAWL: Y
    Â 
     So long, Dolly. That puts an end to your siren song. From now on, my cowboy rides alone.

CHAPTER 9
    The Hive
    Olympus Mons
    ANNOS MARTIS 239. 2. 12. 14:17
    Â 
    Â 
    High above the base of Olympus Mons, Hellbender One returns to the Hive with me in the cargo hold. As the copter comes in for a landing, its rotor wash scatters the clouds from the air, and the deep throttle hum of the engines rattles in my chest.
    After the pilot cuts the engines, the cargo bay opens. Alpha Team covers the exits—two at either side of the copter and two on the bay. Their boots hit the icy deck with a metallic thunk that echoes up to the observation deck, where Lyme and his aide-de-camp, Riacin, stand observing.
    I watch Sarge jump from our sister Hellbender and slide across the platform. The case—the high-value target—is tucked under his arm.
    Sarge blows through the cargo bay door, knocking a corpsman aside. I imagine him running up the stairs and sprinting down the hallway until he reaches the Nursery, where he bursts in—
    Right on time. He appears