The Quorum by Kim Newman Read Free Book Online Page A

square. With luck, not on the heads of innocent passersby.
    She crawled carefully but still opened her palm on a protruding nail. The floor was studded with spikes, either one of Drache’s devilish frills or a defensive feature. Crouching at the rear of the building, she pushed up, testing the shield. It was unresisting. Prominent bolts were spaced around the walls. With a monkey-wrench, she loosened as many as she could reach. She banged her elbows constantly and skinned her right knuckles. Her hair was stuck to her face by sweat. This was not usually prescribed for expectant mothers.
    With enough bolts loosened, she tried to push the shield again. It creaked alarmingly and shifted. Sally found she was shaking. She thought she could almost dislodge the lead without the bombs. But it was best to be safe.
    She’d hoped the joists would be wooden, so she could screw in hooks to hang the buckets from. However, the metal struts came equipped with handy holes, so she was able to rig up the hanging bombs with stout wire. In each bucket of packed-down goo, she’d used Sexton’s recommended dosage for disabling a Russian tank. She stuck the long cigarettes in each bucket and flicked a flame from her disposable lighter.
    Once the fuses were burning, she intended to get down to her desk and alert the skeleton overnight staff. She’d say she’d seen smoke pouring down the stairs. With five minutes, she should be able to evacuate the building.
    She lit the four cigarettes and wriggled back towards the hatch. Down in the Penthouse, lights came on and voices exclaimed surprise. Knowing she was dead, she dangled her legs through the hatch and dropped into the office.
    * * *
    ‘What, no Leech?’ she said.
    Tiny was between the others, shaking and pale. The Device had been eating at him as much as his employees. Sally guessed he was only in the consortium as a judas goat.
    Quilbert was in charge, Drache was along for the ride, and the non-descript man holding Tiny up was the muscle. He was also the van driver who’d knocked down Connor and the balls-squeezer who’d pressured Roebuck. He looked more like a plumber than Satan’s Hit Man.
    ‘Ms Rhodes, what are you doing?’ Quilbert asked.
    ‘Raising the roof.’
    Tiny shook his head and sagged into his chair. Drache strode around the office, examining his handiwork. He had a black leather trenchcoat and showy wings of hair like horns.
    ‘The stand should be here,’ he said, pointing to the dust-free spot where it had stood. ‘For the proper balance. Everything is supposed to be exact. How often have I told you, the patterns are all-important?’
    Quilbert nodded to the muscle, who clambered onto the desk and stuck his head into the crawlspace.
    ‘Smells like she’s been smoking,’ he said.
    ‘It’s a secret,’ she said. ‘I quit but backslid. I have to take extreme measures to cover up.’
    ‘I think I can see... buckets?’
    Quilbert looked at Sally as if trying to read her mind. ‘What have you done?’
    ‘I’ve forestalled the Device,’ she said. ‘It was all wasted.’
    Quilbert’s clear blue eyes were unreadable.
    ‘Only an innocent can intervene,’ Drache said pompously. ‘You’ve taken blooded coin.’
    ‘He’s right,’ Quilbert said. ‘You don’t understand at all. Everything has been pre-arranged.’
    ‘Not everything,’ she said. ‘I’m going to have a baby.’
    Drache looked stricken but Quilbert and Tiny didn’t get it. She supposed they found it all as hard to believe as she did.
    ‘There’s something burning,’ a voice mumbled from above. ‘In the buckets...’
    Drache flew around in a cold rage.
    ‘If she’s carrying a child, she’s washed clean,’ he said, urgently. ‘It’ll upset the balances.’
    ‘What have you done?’ Quilbert asked.
    Sally smiled. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’
    ‘Put out the fires,’ Quilbert shouted up, ‘at once!’
    She should tell them not to tamper with the buckets in case the burning