Hellgate London - Exodus Part 25

"Is it? When you're destroying plague that can reduce a locust infestation that's defoliating a forest?" Leah didn't say anything.

"And is it evil to manufacture a plague?" Simon asked.

After a brief hesitation while she thought about the ramifications of her answer, Leah said, "Yes." "Even if it's a plague you intend to use to eliminate an enemy army?"

She sighed. "I guess it depends on the circ.u.mstances."

"It does. Electricity can light a house and keep it warm in the winter, or it can be used to kill a man on death row in the United States." Simon looked back at the display case. "Anyway, the case is protected by a spell."

"Where did they get the Ravager?"

"I don't know. We'd have to talk to Miller. He's the caretaker of this place." Simon turned and walked away. "Come on."

The museum/teaching center was one of the largest rooms in the Underground. Every House had one. Every House even had demons on display behind gla.s.s. Altogether, there were fourteen demons, but only six different kinds.

None of those were real, as most of the Ravager was. Instead, their appearances had been gleaned from visions, nightmares, myths, and brief glimpses psychic voyagers had been able to initiate into the demon world. The other demons the Templar had constructed had been built to allow martial arts training and to learn as much as they could about them.

Books lined the shelves, but there were a number of computers on the tables as well. All of them were-or had been-hooked into a strong Internet connection.

"Who uses this place?" Leah asked.

"Everyone. The children are brought here for instruction." Simon remembered all the long hours he'd spent inside the museum. The Templar had taught him everything they'd known about the demons. He'd been bored after a while because the information had become repet.i.tive early on.

He'd gotten in trouble again and again for not paying attention to his lessons. There had been plenty of others who had gotten into trouble as well, but he could still remember the pained disappointment he'd seen in his father's face.

Hurt slammed into Simon for a moment when he realized he'd never have the opportunity to apologize to his father.

Now it seemed that everything he'd learned was far too little. "Why aren't the children schooled in London?" Leah asked.

"Because the curriculum taught here is a lot different. And because the Templar don't like their names on government doc.u.ments. The Order was abolished in 1307 by Philip the Fair, partly because the Templar at that time insisted that the Ravager corpse they'd found be studied and the story spread. Philip claimed all the Templar gold and scattered them to the winds with death threats, claiming that they'd created the Ravager to blackmail the crown. Since that time, the Templar have kept to themselves, living off the grid."

His voice echoed in the silence of the museum. This was the quietest he'd ever heard the place. When he was young, it had always been filled with noise. In fact, most of the Templar Underground had been noisy.

Sadness touched him, and he knew that was only the beginning of it.

As they walked back to the barracks, they pa.s.sed two female Templar in full armor that were headed to the museum. They had five small children with them. Simon knew the Templar were taking the kids to the museum to train them.

"h.e.l.lo, Simon," one of the female Templar said.

Simon stood and looked at her, not recognizing the armor.

The Templar halted her charges for a moment, then her faceplate flared open. She was beautiful, with a heartshaped face and deep brown eyes. A few strands of cinnamon-colored hair showed and matched her eyebrows.

"Anne," Simon said, recognizing her. Despite his dark mood and the fatigue he felt, he couldn't help being happy to see her. When he'd left, Anne had still been working on her final armor.

The young woman stepped toward him and embraced him. The metal of their breastplates clanged slightly when they met.

"You're looking good," Simon said as they separated and stepped back.

"Thanks." Anne smiled, more confident than Simon had remembered. When she'd been younger, she'd never appeared outgoing. She'd always been the quiet one of her family. "So are you." She turned to her friend. "Keiko, this is Simon Cross. Simon, Keiko Nagamuchi."

The other Templar's faceplate flared open as well. Her features were Asian, which explained her slight and almost frail build even with the armor. Her almond eyes held a hint of distrust and displeasure.

Keiko nodded. "I've heard of you."

Her voice was flat and uninflected. Her dislike was evident.

Simon tried not to let the female Templar's rejection touch him. He hadn't known Keiko Nagamuchi when he'd lived in the Underground. She'd been three or four years older, and their paths must never have crossed.

"You're with Derek?" Anne asked. "Yes."

"The units are going to be reorganized soon. Since we trained together, maybe we'll be put together."

"Maybe." After what he'd seen today, though, Simon didn't think he wanted that to happen. Watching Anne die at the talons of some infernal demon wasn't something he wanted to do. Then he checked his ego. He had no guarantees he would live through the next encounter.

"Graydon is still here," Anne said. "I saw him."

The four children s.h.i.+fted uneasily. If times had been different they would have been protesting the inactivity. Templar children stayed hurried throughout the day.

But these kids looked pensive. They were already carrying the full weight of their heritage. For them, Simon knew, demons had always been real. They'd never had the chance to grow away from it. Now he wondered if they would ever know a time when demons weren't in their world.

"I could drop by your barracks sometime," Anne offered.

"I'd like that." The words were out of Simon's mouth even as he was thinking he didn't want to try to renew old acquaintances with death staring them in the face. Losing fellow warriors was one thing, but losing friends was going to be even harder.

"We're going to be late," Keiko announced. Her faceplate closed with an abruptping that conveyed annoyance.

Anne looked embarra.s.sed. "I guess I need to be going." "It was good to see you."

She smiled at him and looked like the quiet girl he'd known while growing up. "I'll be by sometime soon."

"If you're not, maybe I'll look you up."

The smile became a grin. "See that you do."

Keiko snorted, and the noise sounded even more disparaging through the suit's audio system.

Urging the children into motion, the two Templar headed for the museum. Anne glanced back at Simon again, then her faceplate closed.

"Old friend?" Leah asked.

"Yes." Simon started forward again.

"I got the feeling there might be some history there."

"What do you mean?" Simon asked, although he was pretty sure he knew what the young woman was getting at.

"I sensed a romantic tension."

"No."

"I'm not often wrong about things like that."

Simon considered telling Leah no again, or not responding at all. But being here-with the circ.u.mstances being what they were, his father dead and not really a friend left to his name-he was surprised to find that he did want to talk about things a little.

"My father had started negotiations for me to have Anne's hand in marriage," Simon said. "Marriage?"

"Yes."

"You're kidding. Anarranged marriage?"

Simon looked at her and wondered how much of their conversation the tunnel security systems were picking up. "This isn't the best place to talk about this. Nor the best time."

"I'm not ready to go crawl back into bed. I feel like talking."

Simon felt the same way. Seeing Anne had been a mixed blessing. Anne didn't know about Saundra, and he'd never mentioned his life in London to Saundra.

He wasn't ready to go back to the barracks, either. Maybe Derek had accepted him into the unit, and maybe he'd been blooded with them today, but there were a lot of warriors there who weren't especially pleased to have him among them.

"All right," Simon said.

Twenty-Eight.

At a small table in a corner of the almost-empty commissary over two steaming cups of hot tea, Simon said, "Not every marriage here is arranged. Some of the Templar still fall in love with each other, get married, and have kids."

"But why do the Templar have arranged marriages?" Leah acted like the idea was reprehensible. "It's not as much of an anathema as you're putting on," Simon said.

"It's positively barbaric. What if the woman doesn't want to be married? What if she doesn't want to be a mother?"

"She," Simon said, "doesn't have any more choice than the man does." "Oh." Leah blinked. "Men don't want to get married?"

"Sometimes less so than the women." "Then why get married?"

"To have children. The ranks of the Templar have to be maintained." Leah frowned. "Propagation of the species?"

Simon felt a hint of anger at her words. He considered only briefly ending the conversation. But the alternative would have meant going back to the barracks and sitting by himself. "We have a unique way of life. Not everyone is meant for it. Forming liaisons with women-or men-from outside the Templar world is problematic."

"Problematic?"

"In the mid-nineteenth century, two Templar were put away in sanitariums." "Why?"

"They told their wives about their roles as Templar. Their missions."

Leah frowned. "Back during that time, a lot of people ended up in sanitariums. Family outcasts. Wives that couldn't be divorced. Children that couldn't be controlled."

Simon nodded. Those times were chronicled in the Templar histories that were required reading in school.

"What happened to the Templar?" Leah asked. "They had to be broken out."

"So no one has ever been brought in from the outside?" "There have been a few. A very few."

"Doesn't say much for love, does it?" Leah smiled crookedly.

"Marriages are hard anyway. Trying to add secrets to the mix, or other loyalties, makes them almost impossible to manage." Simon waved at the commissary. "Even with arranged marriages, divorce seldom happens here."

"Because it's a captive environment?"

"Because husbands and wives have the same goals in their lives."

"Then why didn't you settle down with a nice Templar girl? How did you end up in South Africa?"

Simon took a deep breath. "I wanted more than the Templar way of life offered. And I didn't believe in the demons."

"Not even with those museum exhibits?"

"If you hadn't seen the demons outside of this place, do you think you would have believed?"

Sighing, Leah shook her head. "Probably not. So you broke that young woman's heart?"

Simon smiled. At least it hadn't been that hard. "No. Two years ago, Anne was too young to marry. My father wanted grandchildren."

"He might have been looking for another way to anchor you here." "Perhaps."

"So that's why she was so chatty in the hallway instead of wanting your head on a platter."

"I talked to Anne before I left. I explained what I was feeling. She understood." "You seemed to enjoy seeing her today. Any regrets?"

A lot,Simon thought,but none of them about Anne. "No." "Do the Templar stay married?"

"Most of the time. More so here than in the outside world." "But divorce still sometimes happens?"

"Yes. Some people aren't meant to be married. They still have children, though."

"That's what's important, after all." Leah's voice dripped sarcasm. "The rest of the world is getting overpopulated. It's a wonder that you people haven't."

"That's been a concern since the beginning. The population within the Templar Underground is carefully monitored. Occasionally the numbers have grown too quickly. At that time the word goes out that there aren't supposed to be any more births."

"And if Templar do have children?" "They generally don't."

"People, as a general rule, don't like being told what to do."

"The people that live here," Simon reminded her, "aren't general populace." "Holier-than-thou much?"