Burn Read Free Page A

female livers. Sixteen lives in two suitcases.”
    “They’re human, aren’t they?” Mirian asked.
    “Probably,” Isaac agreed, and tried not to sound shaken. “They’re obviously part of the transplant program. . . .”
    “But why call them ‘vaccine components’? And where did they come from?”
    “You mean who.”
    “Whom,” she corrected, and nodded towards the Innocents. “We’ve taken in thousands of Innocents in hundreds of special homes for almost twenty years. The ‘Down’s-Up’ program. Why don’t any of them come out to work in the community?”
    “They’re all given jobs with the Church, like our assistants here.”
    “Until when? Until some elder needs a pair of lungs? I told you it wasn’t just a rumor. . . .”
    Isaac shushed her as the forklift driver returned for the pallet of organs.
    “You don’t know for sure. . . .”
    “And how are we going to know, stuck in this tin box on this two-bit airstrip. . . .”
    “Our job . . .”
    “Our job,” Mirian interrupted, with a finger to Isaac’s chest, “is to parrot what the Church says and keep our eyes on the horizon. We’re not reporters, we’re secretaries, shills for the Children of Eden PR staff. Now, I came here to report, and I’m not going to stay locked up while the real news is happening out there. You can stay here if you want, but I’m getting a ride to town.”
    That was when they heard the clang and grind of the hangar door coming down, and the snap of the latch as the dark-haired guard secured the lock. He unplugged his Sidekick from the locking unit, winked a brown eye at Mirian and sauntered into the office. The blond guard shoved a rattling kitchen cart towards Isaac and let it go, where it petered out a few meters short. The guard shrugged, his attitude easier and his rifle slung.
    “Courtesy of the Master,” he said. “Ice water and bread for the Sabbath. Basin and towels below.”
    “Thanks,” Isaac said, trying to keep his voice casual. “We heard the embassy was bombed. Any scuttlebutt on that? Is the Master safe here?”
    The attitude returned.
    “We can take care of the Master,” he said, “don’t you worry about that. Now, who’s going to take care of you, that’s the problem. Willy and I got the nod. Okay? They shot a couple of Irish that bombed the embassy, but they’re still looking for a yankee colonel, a Catholic. So, to take care of you we keep you here. The Mongoose picks you up at sunrise Monday. I am to remind you that you are not to perform work from sunset today until sunrise Monday. But you travel with the Master, you already knew that.”
    “Right,” Isaac said.
    He nodded towards Maggie wringing watts out of the battered Lightening.
    “What about that? We need the batteries, you need power.”
    The guard shrugged, his blue eyes steady, intimidating.
    “No souls, no sweat,” he said. “The Innocents don’t count.”
    “What do we do if whoever’s bombing the embassy bombs the airport?”
    “They won’t. Everybody needs the airport, it’s hands off.”
    That’s why they can afford two zitfaces on security, Isaac thought.
    “Where can we get a ride to town? We can get a room. . . .”
    “You’re to stay here until sunrise Monday and observe the Sabbath; those are my sole instructions.”
    “What if we just leave?”
    “Then you’d be forcing me to work on the Sabbath, and I’d prefer not to think about that. And I’d prefer you don’t think about it, either. Besides, you have zero chance to beat that lock. At least, while I’m alive.” He patted his Sidekick and his rifle for emphasis, and he did not smile.
    “I see.”
    “Good.”
    The guard jerked a thumb over his shoulder, towards the office door.
    “The Master’s speaking at eighteen hundred and we’ve got a peel if you want to come in and watch.” His gaze flicked to Maggie, then back. He shrugged. “After all, it’s your power.”
    “Right,” Isaac said. “Thanks.”
    He turned the cart