Richard Kadrey: The Grand Dark

“Who are you?” he said in a deep, rasping voice. “I haven’t seen you in the Palace before.” The big man wiped sweat from his face with a green bandanna that hung loosely around his neck. His shirt was soaked through and there were large patches of glistening red on the front. To Largo he looked like a thief preparing stolen meat to sell on the black market. But who would run a butcher shop this far out, even if it is a crooked one?

Largo stood up straighter and held out the parcel. “I have a delivery for this address,” he said. The room behind the jaundiced man looked empty except for the angular shadow of something distinctly machinelike on the back wall.

The man’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not expecting anything,” he said. Turning, he shouted into the room, “Is anyone expecting a package?”

To Largo’s surprise, several voices answered at once, men and women. A woman’s voice said, “Who’s it from?”

The big man gestured at him. “Who’s it from?”

Largo said, “I’m sorry, but there’s no return address.”

Footsteps echoed as someone else came to the door. A woman said, “Let me see,” and pushed the big man out of the way.

Largo leaned forward when he saw her, surprised.

“Margit?” he said.

She froze and stared at him. Her voice was angry. “What the hell are you doing here? I told you I’d see you at lunch.”

“I know, I know. I’m here because of the parcel.” He held it up, as if it were all the explanation needed.

“You know this whelp?” said the jaundiced man.

Margit patted him on the arm. “It’s all right, Pietr. Largo is a friend from work.”

“One of your customers, I suppose? An addict?”

“No—shut up. Look at him. He just uses for fun, like a lot of people. Isn’t that right, Largo?”

“Yes,” he said quickly. “Just for fun.” But he was already feeling a chill from the lack of morphia.

“What’s he doing here ?” said Pietr, menace creeping into his voice.

Margit took the parcel from Largo’s hands and looked it over. “This is the right address. Someone must have sent for it.”

“That’s madness,” said a man Largo couldn’t see. “No one would do that.”

“You can’t speak for everyone. They’re not all here,” Margit said.

“To hell with this,” Pietr said. He snatched the parcel from Margit, pulled out a stiletto, and cut open the wrappings. There were six large jars inside, each one a different color. The big man pulled one out and showed it to Margit. “Ink,” he said.

“Yes. I can see,” said Margit. “It has to be one of the others. We do need more ink.”

“I don’t like it,” growled the jaundiced man. “Maybe we should keep him here until everyone arrives.”

“I’m telling you, Pietr, Largo is no one to worry about,” said Margit. She turned to Largo. “You should go now. Please don’t tell Branca you saw me.”

“Of course not,” said Largo. “I take it you’re not here making a delivery, are you?”

Margit gave him a thin smile. “Hardly,” she said. She reached into a pocket of her coat and pressed a bottle into Largo’s hand. “Forget what you’ve seen here. All right?”

“But I have to tell Herr Branca something. And someone needs to sign for the package.”

Pietr and some of the other unseen people laughed. The big man took Largo’s receipt book, scrawled something in it, and shoved it back into Largo’s hands. Margit said, “That should be enough for the old bear.”

Largo looked at the signature. It was an indecipherable scrawl of loops and slashes. “It looks fine,” he said. “But what are you doing here?”

“None of your business,” a voice yelled from the back, while at the same time the jaundiced man said, “Trying to educate fools like you.”

“I don’t understand.”

Pietr disappeared for a moment and—after what seemed like a whispered argument with whoever else was inside—came back with a piece of paper. He thrust it into Largo’s hand. The ink was still tacky and some smeared on Largo’s fingers. There was a small target symbol in the bottom right corner. “Here,” said the big man. “Now the audience is over.” He started to close the door, but Margit caught it.

“I’ll talk to you later,” she said. “By the gate. After work.”

“I’ll see you there,” Largo said, still confused by the scene.

For the first time Pietr smiled. His teeth were dark and stained. “Be careful that the crows don’t peck your eyes out, pup,” he said, and slammed the door shut. Largo pressed his ear against it and heard shouting voices on the other side.

Largo didn’t linger to hear what they were arguing about. He shoved the paper Pitr had given him into his pocket and ran down the stairs.

He composed himself as he got to the ground floor, however, knowing that like the Green, Machtviertel wasn’t a place to show fear. He’d missed his chance with the people upstairs, but he could at least appear unconcerned to anyone outside.

But then Largo remembered the bottle Margit had put in his hand.

He took it from his pocket. It was morphia. A bottle of it as big as the one Dr. Venohr had given him at Remy’s. He stood in a shadow by the stairs and stared at it happily. He quickly unstoppered it and put two drops under his tongue. Almost immediately, the chills left him and a gentle warmth moved through his muscles and bones. Pure morphia , he thought. Not watered down. Magical.

Feeling much better, he put the receipt book into his shoulder bag and made his way out of the Black Palace to his bicycle. As he unchained it, the crows shuffled and cawed at him, utterly unafraid. But with the morphia in his system, so was Largo. He rode swiftly back toward the courier depot.

On his way out of Machtviertel, however, Largo had a coughing fit so violent that he had to stop on the side of the road. When he blew his nose with a handkerchief, what came out was as black as soot. As good as the morphia made him feel, he was still relieved to put Machtviertel behind him.

It was a long ride back to the office.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.