Free Africa Zero by Neal Asher Page A

would not know.
“Okay, now, she told the Rainman of the Kiphani she would be awaiting me at the
Iron Falls. What else awaits me there?”
    “I
don’t know, demon.” It seemed the name had become an honorific.
    “Are
there more of your kind there, similarly armed?”
    He
was silent. I dragged him closer to the edge.
    “Oh
God no! Please, no!”
    “Your
god isn’t here to answer your pleas. There’s only one god here and he’s a river
god and he has teeth over ten centimetres long. Answer my question.”
    “There
are ten!” He said quickly. “Four of them have antilight rifles and the others
have flaming swords.”
    Flaming
swords?
    “Describe
to me these flaming swords.”
    “Their
blades-are invisible . . . They only flame when they cut and they will cut a
water oak ... From the handles a shielded wire—”
    “Okay,
okay, no need to go on. I know what they are.”
    As
he would say—Jesu Christos! Well, it seemed evident Diana wanted me dead and
diced. The flaming swords he described were atomic shears with a shear length
of up to three metres. I thought back to those cleanly severed tusks on the
first dead mammoth I had found. I now knew what she had been killing them with.
An atomic shear could cut through anything. It was as simple as that.
    “So,
awaiting me are five of your fellows thusly armed and the Silver One. Does she
have any weapons?”
    He
looked at me. “She has none. She has need of none. She will bring you down,
man-of-metal.” Obviously he had regained his confidence.
    “It
may have escaped your notice but there is a striking similarity between us.”
    “She
does not hold beasts higher than men. She knows God made beasts for men to use
in the fields, to hunt for food, to use as they see fit.”
    “Quite
right, I just don’t want them to be driven to extinction. Such would be man’s
loss.”
    “God
would not permit it.”
    Why
the hell had I allowed him to draw me in? I shook him and nodded my head to the
crocodile who was still waiting patiently.
    “Men
are beasts and as a species their future is assured. I think we can afford to
lose a few. Would you like to pray?”
    “You
promised!”
    “I’m
a demon, remember?”
    His
scream lasted until he hit the water. He sank then came up quickly, trying to
keep his head above water, yelling all the time. Crocky backed off the rock
like a submarine pulling out of dock, and sank. The priest was losing his
battle to stay afloat when suddenly he shot up into the air in the crocodile’s
jaws. Those jaws crunched him a couple of times, probably to get the taste, and
his yelling ceased. I think it swallowed him under water, because when it came
to the rock again to see if I had more fish to throw it looked decidedly smug.
There went the other bit about not eating people. I had suspected as much. This
was one smart crocodile. He knew which side his bread was buttered on. If that
is the correct way of putting it.
    I
did not feel bad about what I had done. The priest had been a man who had
probably tortured many people to death in the name of a god whose doctrines
were supposed to be of peace and love, and respect for life. I went out onto
the rock, picked up his rifle, and turned away. I felt nothing at all.
    Back
in the jungle, and I was soon struggling on through darkness with my vision
switched to infrared. My crocodile was keeping pace with me, which worried me
slightly. I did not want him to get hurt. He could only go as far as the falls
though.
    All
night I pushed on through the jungle. Had I still been in the canoe I would
have reached my destination long before. I suspected I would not be there
before dawn now. A shame really, as I would have had a definite advantage at
night. I could, of course, have waited for the next night, but no, I wanted
this over, ended.
    I
was right. As the mist glowed white and became pink-tinged to the east I heard
the low grumbling of the Iron Falls. Soon I found myself cutting through
tributaries where the