Loose Cannon Read Free Page B

her hands were steady when she did, but for
all of that I thought she looked tense and I tried not to think
what she'd do, if she were forced into hunting him out.
    The crowd thinned soon enough, as my drink
sat untouched on the table. Lil's was long swallowed and Nelbern
had all but finished her own.
    She had just waved her hand for the waiter
when there was a flicker at the doorway and a ripple of
city-clothes in the corner of my eye. Nelbern came to her feet in
one smooth flow, moving through the knot of patrons.
    Lil charged to her feet the next second,
wailing something inarticulate under her breath.
    "Lillian!" I cried as she went by, but her
eyes were full of anguish and she never heard me at all.
    A circle had opened around them--Cly Nelbern
and Pirro Velesz--a circle of the dead-eyed incurious, who turned
back to drinking after a glance determined the business was none of
theirs.
    "Well?" I heard her say, as Lil pushed a way
to his side.
    "Well." He looked tired, his shabby blue
tunic draggled and dirty. He swayed where he stood and Lil put a
hand under his elbow to steady him.
    I saw a smile come and go on his face, like
a whisper of might-have-been; then he reached in his sleeve and
pulled out a thin white envelope of the kind used for dirtsider's
mail and handed it to Cly Nelbern.
    She shook her head toward a table and we
moved that way, Lil bright in the reflection of the man's wan
smile.
    "So." A purr of satisfaction as Nelbern
opened the folder and pulled out a strip of film. "The
original?"
    He nodded. "As agreed."
    "Delightful. And I have payment for you."
She patted her own sleeve. Something in the gesture chilled me, and
I saw Lil clutch after the man's arm, her eyes showing white at the
edges.
    It was then that I saw Her, in life as in
dreaming, walking into that place in Her cleanness and her power,
as if nothing evil could ever touch Her.
    "Witch!" screamed one of the drunks at the
bar, and threw a glass, which fell, stone-heavy, and broke on the
floor at Her feet.
    She turned Her head and there was silence at
the bar; raised a hand and drew a sign in the fetid air. The
silence shimmered, then broke apart, as the one who had thrown the
glass lay his head upon the bar top and wailed.
    She turned back then, fixed us with those
eyes, which saw us and saw through us.
    "Pirro Velesz." Her voice was deep, not
ungentle; I heard it in my heart.
    He licked his lips. "Mercy, Lady."
    "Return what you have stolen."
    "Lady, I cannot."
    The smooth brow creased; then those eyes
moved again, pinning Cly Nelbern.
    "Return what you have stolen."
    The older woman smiled, and bowed a trifle,
one hand over her heart. "Why certainly, child," she said
agreeably, and reached into her sleeve.
    Lil cried out--a single wild shriek of
protest. The man flung out a hand, too late, to stop the throw. I
jumped half-forward, not sure if my mark were Lil or Nelbern, and
saw the knife arc silver-bright, straight for Moonhawk's
breast.
    It fell, as had the glass; there was a
clatter of shards where it struck. Cly Nelbern was already moving,
the shine of another blade in her hand, swinging for an undercut
that would take the girl out as Nelbern charged on--
    "STOP!"
    The world rocked and the stars shook in
their places. I froze where I was, unable to do otherwise, my
muscles commanded by Her will, not mine. I saw Cly Nelbern fall,
and Lil. I saw Pirro frozen upright like myself, and heard the
silence; wondered if everyone in the bar were like froze...
    Moonhawk lifted a hand, bangles tinkling
like carnival, and pointed a slender finger at Pirro.
    "Return what you have stolen."
    He moved, wooden-like, and went to his knees
at Nelbern's side. He pulled the envelope from her belt, but
tarried, his fingers straying to her wrist. Slowly, he stood and
bowed to the girl.
    "Lady, this woman is dead."
    The power shimmered, and I saw the girl
through the goddess; frightened by what she had done, and saddened.
She bent her head and when she raised it