Free The Eternal World by Christopher Farnsworth Page B

were in a tomb together, not safe but trapped.
    “What about her?” he said as carefully as he could.
    “She tried to kill Aznar two weeks ago,” Antonio said.
    “Good,” Simon said. “He should have died a long time ago.”
    The others did not take that well. They expected shock or outrage. Or at least an attempt to feign concern. They scowled at him, their dissatisfaction plain.
    Antonio was the only one to say it out loud, however. With the difference in their appearances, he looked like an uncle scolding an unruly nephew. “That is not right,” he said. “Whatever you think of him—”
    “He is a pig and a rapist and a murderer,” Simon cut in.
    “Whatever you think of him,” Antonio continued, not hearing Simon or not caring, “he was one of us. We owe him some loyalty.”
    “We owe him nothing. Aznar lost his place at this table a long time ago,” Simon said. “The worms can have him, if they don’t gag on his flesh.”
    “She found him,” Carlos interrupted, over the speaker. “However distasteful you thought he was, we should worry about that. She’s getting closer to all of us.”
    “She already knows where to find us,” Peter said. “The only one in hiding is you, Carlos.”
    “That seems like a wise decision now, doesn’t it?” Carlos shot back.
    Antonio would not be deterred. He stabbed a finger at Simon. “We should have eliminated her as a threat long ago and taken her supply of the Water, wherever she hides it.”
    Simon rubbed his eyes. “You’re a genius, Antonio.”
    That derailed his growing outrage. “What?”
    “Find her and kill her. And take her supply of the Water as well. My God. What a strategy. What a plan. You must play chess. Why didn’t I think of that? It’s as brilliant as it is simple.”
    Antonio scowled. “Mock me all you want—”
    “Oh, I will, thank you. You know we have tried.” He pointed at all of the men around the table. “All of you know we have tried. We have tracked her every time she has appeared. We have followed her. We have sent our best men. And we have never seen them again. It’s not that we cannot find her; we cannot even find the bodies. Tell me, what would you do differently? What would you have me do, Antonio? What is your plan, aside from find her and kill her?”
    Silence around the table. Antonio looked away. The other men would not meet his eyes, either.
    “We could always go back to the original source,” Antonio said, much quieter now.
    “The original source? Not this again. It’s gone. I know—believe me, I know—how much you want to believe that it’s still there, buried somewhere. But that is a dream. We lost it long ago, and we will never get it back. You know we’ve tried. You know we have attempted to purchase the land, to buy our way into the good graces of the Seminoles. It has never worked. They remember us. She makes sure of that.”
    “Simon,” Max said, his voice pitched to soothe, “we are not questioning your efforts. We know how hard you have worked. We have been there, all of us. But perhaps there is someplace else, some other source that we’ve missed.”
    “Max, we have looked all over the planet. We have only found the one source. You know this.”
    Max said, “Then perhaps this is a good time for you to tell the others about—”
    Something occurred to Simon. He raised a hand for Max to be silent. “How did you know?” he asked Antonio.
    “How did I know what?” Antonio said.
    “How did you know that she tried to kill Aznar? How would you even know he was still alive?”
    There was a long silence.
    Carlos, over the speaker, sounded mocking: “This is a terrible connection today.”
    “Shut up,” Simon said. “Answer the question, Antonio.”
    Antonio shrugged. “It only makes sense. If any of us goes missing or dies, it has to be her. She’s the only one capable of doing it.”
    Simon ignored the challenge in Antonio’s voice. “No,” he said. “As far as any of us were