Blood and Iron Read Online Free PDF Page A

conquered, heading towards Artemis City. After a moment’s hesitation the Scout began to follow him.
    ‘Wait!’ she called, running lightly across the sodden turf between the path and the stream. ‘Where are we going?’
    ‘I told you, south.’
    ‘But you are heading towards a squad of Storm Troopers.’
    ‘If they are loyal to Artemis they will follow me.’
    ‘If they are loyal to Spoole they will shoot you!’
    ‘Then I will fight them.’
    At that Calor looked up along the top of the rocky slope, looked back behind them. She laughed.
    ‘Ah. I begin to understand. Kavan, the master tactician. You have more troops, more weapons. Hidden just out of sight.’
    Kavan halted so suddenly that Calor almost tripped over him. She watched, puzzled, as he squatted down by the stream that ran alongside the path. He dipped his hand into the water, it looked blue as he felt for the rounded pebbles on the bed. The plastic grips at the end of his fingers were worn, he had to scrabble in the churning water for a handful, but finally he seized them and held them out for Calor to see, water draining from the dents in his panelling.
    ‘Your claws and a handful of pebbles. These are the only weapons I command now. You are my army.’
    Calor nervously extended the blades at her hands and feet once more.
    ‘But there are only two of us!’ she said. ‘There are hundreds, thousands of soldiers, combing these hills, looking for you. They will kill you if you resist them. Why should I get myself killed too?’
    Kavan leaned closer, and she saw the golden glow in his eyes.
    ‘Why?’ he said softly. ‘Because you know that I am right. Artemis is not a place, Artemis just is. How did your mother weave your mind, Calor? Was she an Artemisian?’
    ‘Yes!’
    ‘Then this is where you learn the truth about yourself.’
    ‘I could kill you now,’ said Calor, a hiss of static in her words. She was moving her bladed hands through the killing pattern. ‘You wear the body of an infantryrobot. I could slice through you before you have a chance to move. I could disable you and carry your mind back to Spoole.’
    ‘Then why haven’t you done so already?’ asked Kavan. ‘There are many robots who claim to be Artemisians, but their mothers wove their minds to think more of themselves than of the state itself. Are you one of those robots? Some live a long time before they find this out about themselves. You will find out today.’
    Calor stilled her killing dance, wondering about what Kavan had said. He stared at her with those golden eyes. Then, slowly, the blades at her hands and feet withdrew.
    ‘It will be my death, but I will follow you, Kavan.’
    ‘Arm yourself, then,’ he said, and he handed her a pebble.
    Wa-Ka-Mo-Do
    How sweetly bloomed the railway station outside the Silent City.
    Cherry blossom fluttered down from the branches woven amongst the metal arches of the roof, or was it the metal that was woven around the branches? Wood and metal sprouted from the ground, twisting around each other to form the living canopy of the station. The metal feet of the robots stirred pink petals on the platforms.
    Everything looked so normal, so unchanged. It was odd to think that outsiders now walked upon Yukawan soil. And not just outsiders, but animals. Animals that walked upright, like robots. Animals that, if stories were to be believed, had hands and faces. Animals that could think and bend metal to make tools and machines. It was said they had been here for nearly a year, and yet it was odd that so few people had actually seen them. Perhaps they were shy, reflected Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. Perhaps they were embarrassed by the richness and culture of the Empire.
    A Shinkansen entered the station in a silent wave of blossom, a white needle threading the living cloth. Petals stuck to the metal shells of the waiting passengers; they slowly fluttered to the ground as the train drew to a halt.
    Wa-Ka-Mo-Do opened the door of a carriage for the pretty