The Belter's Story (BRIGAND) by Natalie French, Scot Bayless Page B
Authors: Natalie French, Scot Bayless
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network access. They began to bring us small creatures, mostly diggers gleaned for experimentation, to sustain us, after they realized we would age quickly without the life giving energy they afforded.
These people weren't deliberately cruel. If anything, they were frightened. We saw it in their glows — each of them infected with the same dull midnight hue. Something potent and terrible loomed over them and drove them. They would do anything to avoid the wrath of that power; even give up their own children. We wondered what it was that could intimidate these people so.
Then one shift, without any fanfare, she arrived.
CHAPTER TWELVE
She glided through the lab with Neeshta in tow, a gaggle of minions strung behind them, all in black. Her sable robe clung like adoration to the flawless contours of her body, its neckline plunging from shoulders to navel. Her elegance was a tangible force that pushed those around her into an instinctively servile hunch. They never dared look at her.
Her skin was ethereally white and her glow was like nothing we’d ever seen. It reached darkly from her in all directions, a shadowy nimbus that radiated command and fear. As she approached us with long, confident strides, we could sense… nothing. All the familiar odors of skin and clothing were there, but we couldn't read anything else from her. We wondered that such perfect control was even possible.
The woman in black stood close, apparently unconcerned about whatever danger we might represent.
"So. This is the one?" Her cool blue eyes held ours without the slightest effort.
Neeshta stepped up beside her, a half pace back, close enough to be heard, yet respectfully out of view. "Yes, Reverend Mother. This is Cromley."
The woman in black smiled, perfect lips drawn back over perfect teeth, blue eyes sparkling with invitation. Our involuntary response was over which we had no control. We smiled too. She was so beautiful that, for a moment, our only urge was to please her.
"You’ve been a great help, Cromley. For that, we thank you." She tilted her head slightly and her smile fell away, leaving a tiny pang of loss behind.
She terrified us. Not because of what she might do to us, but because of what she could do if she understood us.
"We're nearly done here. Your extraordinary gift will be a little less extraordinary soon. And then — the things we’ll do." Her smile returned, but without its former warmth. The chill of it pierced us.
"Done? You mean we can go home?" We knew better of course, but we couldn't resist the perverse impulse to ask.
"We?" Her blue gaze pierced our own.
We realized our blunder too late, but we tried to cover. "We… Us." We gestured at the others in the lab around us.
She drew her gaze across the others around me. Belters. Awkward, pallid, with deep-set eyes. Then she stared at us as if she were inspecting a lab specimen.
"Don't be stupid. We know everything. We know what you do. We know how it protects you from the ravages of time. We know that you can draw the lives of others into yours."
She continued to stare, the blue of her eyes cold and unblinking. Then she traced her index finger, with the red pointed nail, down our cheek. "How many are you I wonder?"
We swallowed our resolve and drew a long breath to bolster our courage. "If you let these people live, if you leave them in peace I… we will do what you ask."
Then she laughed. "I wouldn't kill them —" and she motioned to Neeshta and the others who loitered nearby, darting nervous glances at one another, "to persuade you. I’d kill them because they’re useless."
She stopped and looked into my eyes. "But yes. I will allow them their pathetic existence. And you will indeed do what I ask."
She turned and her silky black robe rolled on the air at her calves, following obediently behind her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Days passed. We had no idea how long it would be before the woman in black returned, but we knew we were out of time. Caution no
These people weren't deliberately cruel. If anything, they were frightened. We saw it in their glows — each of them infected with the same dull midnight hue. Something potent and terrible loomed over them and drove them. They would do anything to avoid the wrath of that power; even give up their own children. We wondered what it was that could intimidate these people so.
Then one shift, without any fanfare, she arrived.
CHAPTER TWELVE
She glided through the lab with Neeshta in tow, a gaggle of minions strung behind them, all in black. Her sable robe clung like adoration to the flawless contours of her body, its neckline plunging from shoulders to navel. Her elegance was a tangible force that pushed those around her into an instinctively servile hunch. They never dared look at her.
Her skin was ethereally white and her glow was like nothing we’d ever seen. It reached darkly from her in all directions, a shadowy nimbus that radiated command and fear. As she approached us with long, confident strides, we could sense… nothing. All the familiar odors of skin and clothing were there, but we couldn't read anything else from her. We wondered that such perfect control was even possible.
The woman in black stood close, apparently unconcerned about whatever danger we might represent.
"So. This is the one?" Her cool blue eyes held ours without the slightest effort.
Neeshta stepped up beside her, a half pace back, close enough to be heard, yet respectfully out of view. "Yes, Reverend Mother. This is Cromley."
The woman in black smiled, perfect lips drawn back over perfect teeth, blue eyes sparkling with invitation. Our involuntary response was over which we had no control. We smiled too. She was so beautiful that, for a moment, our only urge was to please her.
"You’ve been a great help, Cromley. For that, we thank you." She tilted her head slightly and her smile fell away, leaving a tiny pang of loss behind.
She terrified us. Not because of what she might do to us, but because of what she could do if she understood us.
"We're nearly done here. Your extraordinary gift will be a little less extraordinary soon. And then — the things we’ll do." Her smile returned, but without its former warmth. The chill of it pierced us.
"Done? You mean we can go home?" We knew better of course, but we couldn't resist the perverse impulse to ask.
"We?" Her blue gaze pierced our own.
We realized our blunder too late, but we tried to cover. "We… Us." We gestured at the others in the lab around us.
She drew her gaze across the others around me. Belters. Awkward, pallid, with deep-set eyes. Then she stared at us as if she were inspecting a lab specimen.
"Don't be stupid. We know everything. We know what you do. We know how it protects you from the ravages of time. We know that you can draw the lives of others into yours."
She continued to stare, the blue of her eyes cold and unblinking. Then she traced her index finger, with the red pointed nail, down our cheek. "How many are you I wonder?"
We swallowed our resolve and drew a long breath to bolster our courage. "If you let these people live, if you leave them in peace I… we will do what you ask."
Then she laughed. "I wouldn't kill them —" and she motioned to Neeshta and the others who loitered nearby, darting nervous glances at one another, "to persuade you. I’d kill them because they’re useless."
She stopped and looked into my eyes. "But yes. I will allow them their pathetic existence. And you will indeed do what I ask."
She turned and her silky black robe rolled on the air at her calves, following obediently behind her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Days passed. We had no idea how long it would be before the woman in black returned, but we knew we were out of time. Caution no
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