[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
a tendency to try to take over and choke the life from everything else. You can think of
me what you will, but my father's way is the only path to the salvation of this world."
Mildred followed the man back into the mouth of yawning root, through the corridors,
walking through new twists and turns that she was sure took her farther and farther into
the depths of the mountain. "That's your plan?" she asked.
"The salvation of this world?" Boldt asked as he led her into a vast chamber hollowed out
in a space thirty feet in height and easily three times that in length. Computer hardware
lined the cavern, seemingly on the verge of being absorbed into the root walls, the fibrous
bark highly polished and reflecting the lights and the sheen of the machines. "My father's
plan would have allowed nothing less."
"Do you have any idea what is waiting out there?" Mildred asked. She couldn't help
herself, couldn't rein in the disbelief.
"Yes." Boldt walked to the end of the room, his staff in his hand as he sat in the sculpted
wood throne at the head of a conference table. "I've sent seed heralds out into the world.
Past New London, past the chunnel, where some gaps yet remain that a man might make
it from here to the European mainland under the sea. The way is arduous, of course, but it
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can be made. I've even allowed some exploration through the mat-trans unit."
Unconsciously Mildred scanned the room. She spotted the familiar lines of the mat-trans
unit in the softened shadows against one of the far walls. "Where have they been?"
"Over most of what remains of the British Islands," Boldt replied, waving her to a chair.
Mildred sat, steeling herself to appear relaxed.
"To Europe and even as far as the Russian climes. Through the mat-trans we've been to
what's left of the United States. Deathlands, as you people seem so fond of calling it."
"Not my idea," Mildred said, "but it fits."
"Yes. Quite appropriate."
"Did all your seed heralds return?"
Boldt leaned back in the throne. "Most but not all. Never all. That is a vicious world
awaiting us out there."
"How many didn't return by their own choosing?"
Boldt's smile was cold, cruel. "None. They were given an inducement to return. Before
any of them left, an explosive device was implanted deep into muscle tissue by med-bots
under Merlin's watchful eye. If, after sufficient time for their journey to have elapsed,
they did not return, the devices exploded. Managed by an internal clock." He paused. "I
am quite thorough."
"Yes." Mildred felt the presence of the guards at her back even though they stayed out of
her sight.
"More of the human race survived the bombing and the nukestorm than my father had
anticipated."
"Your father knew the war was going to happen?"
"You were there," Boldt said. "Given the circumstances, was there any other way for
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html (155 of 291) [1/3/2005 12:27:09 AM]
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html
things to end?"
Mildred held her tongue. There were dozens of other ways events could have gone. But
they hadn't.
Boldt waved to encompass the room. "My father planned to restock the world after it
destroyed itself. Using the money he borrowed through his contact with Colonel Walker,
who was also in agreement, with enough biological material set aside to continue the
future of this planet."
"Only they wanted things to be different," Mildred said. She looked into the lean man's
eyes and saw the fanatical lights burning there. For a moment she lost herself in her
imagination, wondering what it had been like for a nine-year-old child to wander through
the complex by himself. She found herself wanting to know when he'd first had human
companionship again.
"Of course they wanted things to be different. The human race, such as it was, was a
cancerous growth on this planet."
"Was he a Celt?"
"No. My father& was my father." The lack of reply indicated that the nine-year-old boy
had never known his father at all. "He chose the Celtic way of life for his people. All of
the ones who were fast-grown in the vats were imprinted with the beliefs and values of
the Celts. They revered nature, and wanted to be one with her. Not like the generations
spawned afterward."
"Not overly appreciative of your father's grand designs."
Again the cruel smile flashed. "They shall be sorry, though, in the end. And it is nearer
than they think."
Mildred didn't like the ominous sound of that at all, and when Boldt continued, she liked
it even less.
Chapter Seventeen
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file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html
As fast as the striking vine was, Ryan Cawdor was faster. He avoided the flashing thorn
dripping ichor, and seized the attacking plant limb just behind the scabrous attachment. It
bucked in his hold, stronger than he would have thought possible.
Gehrig guffawed with laughter, nearly doubled over at the table. "You know, that shit
usually gets everybody the first time."
Ryan eyed the raider captain coldly. "You want to have somebody put this thing away
before I decide to pass it along?"
At least ten or a dozen other vines had leaped from the confines of the wicker basket and
wound their way around the table, chair legs and other men. Two of the waitresses
screamed, and the hypnotic trance created by the naked brunettes working the double-
headed dildo on the stage was rudely shattered. The shrills of a faked mutual orgasm
petered out.
Gehrig waved the knife he'd been using to carve bite-size hunks from the meat in front of
him.
Three of his men responded at once, grabbing the rooted pod in the wicker basket and
fighting the tentacles back into place.
"Effing tree-huggers call those things tanglers," Gehrig said. "They're a combination pet,
watchdog and source of food and clothing. That's what we're getting out of our little
raids," Gehrig said. "The tanglers have poison in them, you see. Harsh stuff. Takes long [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
a tendency to try to take over and choke the life from everything else. You can think of
me what you will, but my father's way is the only path to the salvation of this world."
Mildred followed the man back into the mouth of yawning root, through the corridors,
walking through new twists and turns that she was sure took her farther and farther into
the depths of the mountain. "That's your plan?" she asked.
"The salvation of this world?" Boldt asked as he led her into a vast chamber hollowed out
in a space thirty feet in height and easily three times that in length. Computer hardware
lined the cavern, seemingly on the verge of being absorbed into the root walls, the fibrous
bark highly polished and reflecting the lights and the sheen of the machines. "My father's
plan would have allowed nothing less."
"Do you have any idea what is waiting out there?" Mildred asked. She couldn't help
herself, couldn't rein in the disbelief.
"Yes." Boldt walked to the end of the room, his staff in his hand as he sat in the sculpted
wood throne at the head of a conference table. "I've sent seed heralds out into the world.
Past New London, past the chunnel, where some gaps yet remain that a man might make
it from here to the European mainland under the sea. The way is arduous, of course, but it
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html (154 of 291) [1/3/2005 12:27:09 AM]
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html
can be made. I've even allowed some exploration through the mat-trans unit."
Unconsciously Mildred scanned the room. She spotted the familiar lines of the mat-trans
unit in the softened shadows against one of the far walls. "Where have they been?"
"Over most of what remains of the British Islands," Boldt replied, waving her to a chair.
Mildred sat, steeling herself to appear relaxed.
"To Europe and even as far as the Russian climes. Through the mat-trans we've been to
what's left of the United States. Deathlands, as you people seem so fond of calling it."
"Not my idea," Mildred said, "but it fits."
"Yes. Quite appropriate."
"Did all your seed heralds return?"
Boldt leaned back in the throne. "Most but not all. Never all. That is a vicious world
awaiting us out there."
"How many didn't return by their own choosing?"
Boldt's smile was cold, cruel. "None. They were given an inducement to return. Before
any of them left, an explosive device was implanted deep into muscle tissue by med-bots
under Merlin's watchful eye. If, after sufficient time for their journey to have elapsed,
they did not return, the devices exploded. Managed by an internal clock." He paused. "I
am quite thorough."
"Yes." Mildred felt the presence of the guards at her back even though they stayed out of
her sight.
"More of the human race survived the bombing and the nukestorm than my father had
anticipated."
"Your father knew the war was going to happen?"
"You were there," Boldt said. "Given the circumstances, was there any other way for
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html (155 of 291) [1/3/2005 12:27:09 AM]
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html
things to end?"
Mildred held her tongue. There were dozens of other ways events could have gone. But
they hadn't.
Boldt waved to encompass the room. "My father planned to restock the world after it
destroyed itself. Using the money he borrowed through his contact with Colonel Walker,
who was also in agreement, with enough biological material set aside to continue the
future of this planet."
"Only they wanted things to be different," Mildred said. She looked into the lean man's
eyes and saw the fanatical lights burning there. For a moment she lost herself in her
imagination, wondering what it had been like for a nine-year-old child to wander through
the complex by himself. She found herself wanting to know when he'd first had human
companionship again.
"Of course they wanted things to be different. The human race, such as it was, was a
cancerous growth on this planet."
"Was he a Celt?"
"No. My father& was my father." The lack of reply indicated that the nine-year-old boy
had never known his father at all. "He chose the Celtic way of life for his people. All of
the ones who were fast-grown in the vats were imprinted with the beliefs and values of
the Celts. They revered nature, and wanted to be one with her. Not like the generations
spawned afterward."
"Not overly appreciative of your father's grand designs."
Again the cruel smile flashed. "They shall be sorry, though, in the end. And it is nearer
than they think."
Mildred didn't like the ominous sound of that at all, and when Boldt continued, she liked
it even less.
Chapter Seventeen
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html (156 of 291) [1/3/2005 12:27:09 AM]
file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2035%20-%20Bitter%20Fruit.html
As fast as the striking vine was, Ryan Cawdor was faster. He avoided the flashing thorn
dripping ichor, and seized the attacking plant limb just behind the scabrous attachment. It
bucked in his hold, stronger than he would have thought possible.
Gehrig guffawed with laughter, nearly doubled over at the table. "You know, that shit
usually gets everybody the first time."
Ryan eyed the raider captain coldly. "You want to have somebody put this thing away
before I decide to pass it along?"
At least ten or a dozen other vines had leaped from the confines of the wicker basket and
wound their way around the table, chair legs and other men. Two of the waitresses
screamed, and the hypnotic trance created by the naked brunettes working the double-
headed dildo on the stage was rudely shattered. The shrills of a faked mutual orgasm
petered out.
Gehrig waved the knife he'd been using to carve bite-size hunks from the meat in front of
him.
Three of his men responded at once, grabbing the rooted pod in the wicker basket and
fighting the tentacles back into place.
"Effing tree-huggers call those things tanglers," Gehrig said. "They're a combination pet,
watchdog and source of food and clothing. That's what we're getting out of our little
raids," Gehrig said. "The tanglers have poison in them, you see. Harsh stuff. Takes long [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]