Free The Devil Delivered and Other Tales by Steven Erikson Page A

freezing of the soul. “Excavations. We found those forgotten stories. The mammoths, dire wolves, the short-tailed bears and smilodons, the Bison antiquus. We found them all, rediscovered their lives and their deaths and it was all there in front of us. A story it wasn’t politically expedient to read.” William finally turned his attention to Daniel.
    “This isn’t a condemnation, Daniel. It’s an embrace. Not so different after all. Human. Just human. A return to the old ways is a return to the wrong ways. I’m very sorry for that. It seemed so pristine. Paradise, but the nations had been birthed, the plains flooded with hunters on horseback, and the buffalo lost their final sanctuary—the deep plains. You already had your us and them. You were on your way, well on your way.”
    “Jesus,” Daniel breathed, “it’s freezing out here. This storm, Max, we talking snow?”
    “Fucking ice age, Danny. This will slow us down, the last thing we need.”
    “No,” William said, his tone bringing all three around. “The pillar must rise. Daniel, hear my words, now, before the feast. Your vision is true. I’ll not hinder you. The storm is my legion, and I will lead it around you.” William smiled again suddenly and winked at Max. “The eye-spies still up there are old ones—they will be blind for days. Come now, come with all your technology, your workers, your supplies and set your genius to work.”
    William raised his arms, then turned to face the bitter wind. After a moment, he began walking, along the ridge, eastward, away from the valley. He felt the three deathly cold men study his back, measuring his movements, wondering at the sudden falling off of the wind.
    NOAC Net
    “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own,” the Securicom official went on to say. Recent reports that a third surveillance satellite has been sabotaged will not be confirmed by Securicom. The official described the present investigation as close to achieving the “cessation of terrorist activities,” adding that the full measure of law enforcement will be vigorously expressed in the subduction of the terrorists.…
    … beneath the storm’s cover. Unconfirmed reports indicate that construction at the new Ladon Site is now underway. A press release deemed “grossly incomplete” by NOAC and NUN representatives, issued yesterday by Ladon Inc, reveals that the project’s chief engineer is Maxwell Ohman (a continuation of that posting from the Boxwell site), a man believed to be the Lady’s lover.…
    … admitted that the trade sanctions against the Lakota Nation are “riddled with defiance on the part of free-standing corporations, unaligned nations, and Third World peripheral groups.” The Minister went on to say that “health conditions in the closed nation are cause for gravest concern. On humanitarian reasons alone, NUN would be fully justified in direct military intervention.”
    NUN Security Council member Elias Ruby has denied the veracity of the Minister’s claim, and repeated the Council’s position on military intervention: “The EET (Extraordinary Economic Tribunal) has concluded that direct intervention between an unaligned nation and a corporation it has contracted with is permitted under very strict, clearly outlined circumstances. As of yet, neither Ladon nor Lakota Nation has breached any of these conditions.”
    At a second press conference the Minister refuted both the Security Council’s and the EET’s position. “I am very sorry, but if this project hasn’t direct military application potential, I don’t know what does. It seems clear that those very world organizations in place to protect us have been collectively cowed by the might of a single corporation and a single people. My God, what next?”
    … One soweth, and another reapeth.…
    … lifted up the serpent in the wilderness as this Lady gazes upon the works of men, and sees before her the shape