The Trade of Queens by Charles Stross Read Free Book Online Page A

stands on it. I ride him. Yes?”
    The Ferret nodded to his companion. “My lord earl, there we are. Simple, sweet, with minimal room for things to go wrong.”
    The earl nodded thoughtfully. His eyes flickered between the two soldiers. Did they suspect that the thumbwheel on the payload’s timer-controller had been modified to detonate six minutes earlier than the indicated time? Probably not, else they wouldn’t be standing here. “If we’d been able to survey inside this, this five-sided structure…”
    â€œIndeed. Unfortunately, my lord Hjorth, it is the most important administrative headquarters of their military, and it was attacked by their enemies only two years ago. The visitors’ car park is as close as we could get. The payload”—the Ferret patted the stubby metal cylinder—“is sufficient to the job.”
    â€œWell, then.” Earl Oliver Hjorth managed a strained smile. “I salute your bravery. Good men!”
    Jurgen’s cheek quirked. “I’m certain that there will be no trouble, my lord.”
    â€œEveryone in the witch-kingdom expects to see fire extinguishers in stairwells,” added the Ferret, not bothering to explain that the keg-sized payload looked utterly unlike a fire extinguisher. “And it won’t be there long enough for anyone to tamper with it.” Strapped to the detonation controller, it weighed nearly ninety kilos; there was a reason for the carefully surveyed crossing point, the wheelbarrow, and the two strong-backed and incurious couriers.
    â€œGood,” the earl said briskly. He pulled out a pocket watch and inspected the dial. “Fifty-six minutes, I see. Is that the time? Well, I must be going now.” He nodded at the Ferret. “I expect to see you in Dankfurt by evening.”
    â€œAnd the men, sir,” prompted the Ferret.
    â€œOh yes. And you.” Hjorth glanced at the uniformed couriers. “Yes, we shall find a suitable reward for you. I must be going.”
    With that, he turned and clambered down the ladder, followed by his bodyguard. Together, they squelched towards the rowboat that waited at the water’s edge. It would carry them to the other side, and thence to the carriage waiting to race him away down the post road, so that he would be a couple of leagues distant before the clocks counted down to zero.
    Just in case something went wrong at the last moment. You could never be too sure, with these devices.
    *   *   *
    The Explorer rumbled slowly down a narrow road near Andover, thick old-growth trees blocking the view to either side. Harold Parker State Forest wasn’t exactly the back end of nowhere, but with thousands of acres of hardwood and pine forest, campground and logging roads, and day trippers moving in and out all summer, it was a good place to disappear. Miriam sat back with her eyes closed, trying to fend off the sickening sense of impending dread. It was happening again: the sense of her life careering out of control, in the hands of— Stop that , she told herself. Half the occupants of the big SUV were sworn to her, bound by oaths of fealty; the rest were— If I can’t trust them, I can’t trust anybody.
    It was turning into a recurring motif. Just as she tried to get a handle on her life and steer a course for herself, someone would try to look after her, usually with disastrous consequences. Betrayal, destabilization, chaos, and—as often as not—deaths. She’d thrown a party two days ago, inviting friends and possible allies to sound them out about a new venture—a whole new political program, in fact, not simply a business idea—only to receive heavy-handed hints about matters more properly handled by Clan Security. And today she’d come to talk to Earl-Major Riordan about them, only to learn that her worst suspicions were if anything an understatement of the problem: that the