Samael's Fire Read Online Free PDF

their glasses to each other.
    “The land around Corcovado is blessed.” Creepy coming from Geraldo, hardly the reverent type. “We’ve discovered a natural artesian aquifer. Clean fresh water. A pristine environment to keep the girls healthy. We’re calling it Sanguibahd.”
    He must have come up with the name himself, he was so proud of it.
    “Blood City,” Char said.
    “A sanctuary for fertile females.”
    “But no one has a natural pregnancy anymore.”
    Women’s fertility had long been undependable. In the 2010 Spill, the oil company used dispersants in their attempts to conceal the gravity of the disaster. Those chemicals infused endocrine disruptors into the ecosystem. At first only the local fish, plankton, and birds were affected. But the slick spread to currents that channeled the whole mess into the Atlantic, and the tainted birds and plankton and fish were subsumed into the food chain.
    Eerily reminiscent of the collapsing bee colonies, women began to develop fertility problems. Within ten years half the females on the planet were infertile. Another quarter suffered from incompetent uterus syndrome at six to seven months gestation. Now, a generation later, some said the infertility had tapered off. Some said it was getting worse. The Imperial Census knew the truth, but the information was classified.
    To be safe, most babies were baggers now, engineered at dedicated hospitals.
    “Sanctuary.” Char said. “Safekeeping from pollution?”
    “Pollution. Mischief. Fertility wasted on the undeserving.”
    “Undeserving?” A chill passed through Char. “You sound like the TU.”
    The 2010 Gulf Spill had stirred up religious types. The Rise and the creation of the New Dead Sea brought some to apocalyptic ecstasy. The Talibanos Unidos had believed the end times would come to this generation, and they were glad to bring them on. They sorted people into the deserving and undeserving and announced that god had commanded them to wipe out the undeserving.
    Then two years ago in the Pacific Zone, the TU set off dirty bombs throughout the entire undeserving Los Angeles/San Diego corridor, killing millions—including Char’s parents. The TU rendered the region unlivable and achieved their goal’s opposite. After the Section 5 Outrage, even politicians made no show of religious belief. The names of god became curses, stripped of their capital letters.
    When the DOGs wiped out the last remnant of the TU, Char had bought a round of drinks to toast them. It was the last time they’d all been together, Char and Brandon and Sky and Mike. A week later the DOGs set off C4 explosives at Tesla’s shoreline headquarters near Davis.
    Sky wasn’t there that day, but Brandon’s train had been caught in the blast.
    During his funeral, Sky had called from the vault.   Don’t worry, sis,   she said as they sealed the entrance. Always the braver, smarter, better twin.   I know you worry—and don’t. I’ll be safer than you are on the surface.
    Char had quit the university and found work online for corporate lawyers, vetting the science parts of their legal briefs. She bought produce at the farmers market. Grew sprouts in vials in her kitchen. Took the zephyr to Tahoe to see clean water and pretend things weren’t so bad. Something about Geraldo and Reynaldo shattered her illusions.
    Reynaldo licked his fingers and shrugged his shoulders. “Sanguibahd is also sanctuary from raptors.”
    “Raptors? But that’s just a rumor!”
    Jake shook his head and Reynaldo chuckled.
    Geraldo said, “If you don’t see it on the television, it must not be real?”
    Char was beginning to feel hopelessly naïve.
    Mike’s com sounded in his ear, so loud she could hear it. His self-important vibe put a stop to the group’s conversation. While he listened, his face lost its color.
    “This is something I have to deal with.” He stood up. “Reynaldo, Geraldo, you need to go back down. Keep away from the Pacific Zone. In fact, stay