LITMIR.BIZ

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broader of build with overdeveloped triceps, biceps and deltoids. The big shaved-headed man wore a drab-olive T-shirt, green-striped camo pants and high-laced jump boots.

      Gedrick was a man of medium height with brown skin. Despite the fact his complexion was completely different from Edwards and his chin framed by a goatee, he exuded a similar attitude of watchfulness.

      Gedrick, like Edwards, was a former Magistrate. Although neither man wore a uniform, their right biceps were emblazoned with tattoos that depicted stylized, balanced scales of justice superimposed over nine-spoked wheels. The tattoos symbolized the Magistrate oath to keep the wheels of justice turning in the nine baronies.

      Philboyd always felt uneasy in the presence of Magistrates, even those whom he considered friends like Kane and Grant.

      Gedrick cast a glance toward the bespectacled astrophysicist and the petite albino woman when they joined their colleagues from Cerberus. For an instant, distaste flickered in Gedrick’s eyes when his gaze passed over Domi.

      “So you didn’t find anything, either?” Gedrick demanded, his voice an aggressive rasp, as if steel wool lined his throat.

      Domi shook her head. “Nothing that would give me the idea that this piece of California is unstable. I did some diving out where the tidal disturbances were reported. It seemed ordinary enough.”

      Mariah Falk declared curtly, “I don’t know if that means anything. There are two varieties of tidal stressing that can generate earthquakes—diurnal and biweekly tides. The diurnal correlations would arise from more earthquakes only during the hours when the tidal stress is pushing in an encouraging direction, and biweekly effects are based on quakes when the sinusoidal stressing oscillations are the greatest.”

      “Be that as it may,” Gedrick said, “we’ve been experiencing ground tremors every other day for the past two weeks. Each time they increase in duration and strength.”

      “We’re aware of that,” Edwards said. “But—”

      “I know you’re aware of it,” Gedrick broke in impatiently. “That’s why we called upon Cerberus, since you’re supposed to have all these fabulous predark specialists on hand. I’m also aware that two other villes have been destroyed by earthquakes in the past four months.”

      “Mandeville and Palladiumville, yeah,” Philboyd said. “The only common factor is that, like Snakefish, they have become free villes—open to all, run like democracies—with the help of Cerberus advisers.”

      Gedrick scowled at the taller man resentfully. “Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe if we just lock the place down and make it like the old days, our ville will stay standing.”

      “I don’t think you’ll have to go those lengths,” Mariah said.

      “Why not?” Gedrick barked. “We’re having the tremors, and you claim there’s no reason for them.”

      Mariah chuckled self-consciously and from her satchel removed several pieces of grit-encrusted rock. “I dug these out of the shoreline, and there’s no sign of tectonic fracturing due to shallow oceanic thrust faults. I suppose it’s possible that this whole region experiences weak tremors due to the so-called syzygy effect, but after touring the area, I haven’t found any evidence of fault lines that could trigger episodic tremor and plate slips. Shallow earthquakes near midocean ridges aren’t uncommon in the Pacific, so perhaps you’re experiencing residual ripples.”

      Gedrick’s eyebrows knitted at the bridge of his nose. “Two villes being destroyed by earthquakes can’t be a coincidence.”

      Mariah returned the rock samples to the satchel. “I agree, but I don’t know what else to tell you.”

      Domi glanced around, her eyes slitted. “There’s not much else we can do here, is there?”

      Edwards lifted a broad shoulder in a negligent shrug. “Not really.”

      Domi stared levelly at Gedrick. “Then, if you’ll return our weapons, we’ll be on our way.”

      The brown man gestured toward the Administrative Monolith. “You can pick them up on the way to the mat-trans. Sorry, but the only way we’ve kept the ville from turning into a bloodbath again is by forbidding all firearms inside the city walls.”

      “A reasonable policy,” Philboyd remarked, affecting not to notice the glare Edwards directed at him.

      Gedrick blew out a frustrated sigh. “I may not seem like it, but I do appreciate the help. We never would have gotten the ville back together without Cerberus providing aid. I would have liked to have seen Kane, Grant and Brigid again.”

      The corner of Philboyd’s mouth quirked in a smile. “We’re the B Squad. Nowadays, the three heads of Cerberus aren’t called in unless something really big happens.”

      “Like what?” Gedrick asked, tone edged with sarcasm. “When my fucking ville falls down?”

      Mariah Falk opened her mouth to answer, then cocked her head toward the rumble of thunder in the distance. Domi tilted her head back, squinting up into the cloudless expanse of blue sky.

      “What the hell is that?” Edwards demanded, shielding his eyes with a hand and scanning the sky.

      Philboyd felt a prickle of dread as he glanced around the streets. The sound grew louder, as if a great wheeled machine approached. The ground underfoot began to tremble, then it shifted fractionally. Fragments of brick and masonry tumbled from structures. Spiderweb patterns of cracks spread over the surface of the ville walls.

      The people in the streets milled about uncertainly. There came the splintering of glass and a chimney toppled over, crashing onto the ground. A portion of a plastic-coated structure came down, and a vendor’s tent keeled over. Pieces of the ville walls loosened and rained down, first in flakes then in fist-size chunks. Screaming mothers began shoving their terrified children toward the gate.

      A series of consecutive hammering tremors struck the ground from beneath. Rifts split the ground. Rocks and mortar, shaken loose from the walls all around, rained down. Philboyd’s legs buckled and he staggered but didn’t fall.

      Waving his arms, Gedrick bellowed, “Everybody out! Everybody out of the ville! Stay away from the walls!”

      Dodging the falling debris, the people stampeded toward the open gate, jostling one another. A small boy stumbled and fell, squalling. Domi scooped him up in her arms and turned toward the Cerberus personnel. “You heard the man! Let’s get the hell out of here!” she shouted.

      Philboyd started to obey, then froze as the flood tide of people swirled around him. At the base of a wall a hundred yards away, a moving ripple appeared in the ground, as if a very large animal slid and burrowed just beneath the surface. Little puffs of dust burst up from the cracks in the topsoil.

      The furrow inscribed a crescent and halted. Philboyd heard a steady grinding throb. The ground acquired a split and amid a geyserlike spray of dirt, a darkly gleaming metal form heaved up, surrounded by clouds of pulverized grit and sand. A wave of intense heat like that from an opened blast furnace struck his face. His skin felt as if it instantly dried up and shriveled. He recoiled, lifting a hand to shield his eyes. He glimpsed the earth heaving up like a giant wave and rolling toward him in a crushing comber of rock and soil.

      A hand closed tightly around his right arm and hauled him backward.

      “Move it, asshole!” Edwards snarled into his ear.

      A deep fissure opened up in their path and the two men leaped over it. A span of wall toppled down, crushing vendors’ stalls. Edwards and Philboyd reeled on their feet, doing their best to maintain their balance on the convulsing earth. A shower of flying gravel pelted them.

      Philboyd and Edwards dashed through the gate as the ville walls crumbled, folding inward, block after block, crash after crash. Panting, eyes stinging from dust, they ran across the bridge and joined Gedrick, Domi and Mariah on the far side of the canal. Gedrick bled from a raw gash on his left cheek.

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