Rook

efforts. Previously, he had been content just to oversee theworkshops. He has always been keen to enjoy the luxuries in life,” the Belgian said, sighing.
    Absolutely,
thought Myfanwy sourly.
A stretch limousine, a shiny fish tank.
    “He had always been excitable, but now he became fixated on our projects in Britain. I became suspicious, but I did not wish to confront him directly. Not without more evidence. So I arranged to have his
geheimschrijver
detained one evening, when my cousin was at the theater.”
    “His
geheimschrijver?
” asked Myfanwy.
    “Uh, it is his ‘secret writer’—secretary,” said the Belgian. “I acquired him and had some of my subordinates infiltrate his memory.” Myfanwy tensed, thinking of the youth who had been doing a little memory infiltration of his own that evening.
    “Guys with scales?” she asked tightly.
    “Hm? Oh, no—I know what you are thinking, but those models are only useful for people with standard, unaugmented brains. No, our support staff is augmented to act as communicators—telephones. They tap directly into the phone network through their minds, hacking into the system. We speak to them as if they were the person on the other end of the line, and the words are transferred. When the person we are calling speaks into their telephone, our secretary repeats their words in their voice. It is practically instantaneous, and completely untraceable.”
    Which explains why Li’l Pawn Alan’s compatriots couldn’t track the calls,
she thought bitterly.
I suppose they can’t do faxes—after all, where would they insert them?
    “I watched as they subdued him, insinuated various implements, and downloaded transcriptions. I found, to my intense disappointment, that Gerd had been in contact with our plants in the Checquy, preparing them for a putsch. I must say that one of the double agents in your Court particularly welcomes the prospect of a violent revolution. It is quite unwholesome,” he said.
    “Frankly,” continued the Grafter, “this was a tremendous blow. I had headed their acquisition and indoctrination. It had been mystrategy from the beginning. I had personally overseen the establishment of Camp Caius and the development and placement of our fungal weapon of mass destruction. Oh, yes,” he said as Myfanwy raised an eyebrow, “it is quite a terrifying little entity. It subjugates human beings and can engulf vast areas once activated.”
    “With an eye toward marrying our two organizations?” asked Myfanwy dryly. Up until that moment, she had allowed herself to relax. Part of it was weariness, but the Belgian was so pleasant about everything that she’d… well, she hadn’t quite forgotten that he was naked and a centuries-old enemy, but she had ceased to hold those facts in the front of her mind. Now his casual mention of the fungus cult in Bath brought back to her the terror of that day. And the dismissive way that he spoke of hacking someone’s memory made her shudder.
    “Rook Thomas, you must remember that in the eyes of the Broederschap, the Checquy is not a benevolent force. It is the adversary that smashed our efforts and forced our destruction. I was obliged to watch as my homes were razed and my friends killed. My corpse was burned and the ashes were dumped in the ocean. It was only through exceptionally cunning sleight of body that I managed to survive. I will not blush when I tell you that when we emerged from that ordeal, making overtures of peace to the Checquy was not high on our agenda. Indeed, our initial goal was to conceal our existence from you, and then to set about inflicting as much pain as we could.”
    “So what happened?” asked Myfanwy.
    “It is curious how the passing of lifetimes will change a man,” mused the Belgian. “For some, apparently, it brings on a compulsion to cut off one’s toes. As for me, I found myself forgiving the Checquy. My spite came to seem petty, and as I watched your organization expand and improve, I realized that it represented as good a governing body as could exist in such circumstances. It had flaws, of course, and was subject to the vagaries of humanity, but its goals were noble. I came to hope that we could meet without resentment. Over the years, I broached the subject to my cousin, and over time he grew amenable. I continued the process of infiltration and establishing collaborators in the Checquy. I did
not
do this because I wished to harm you but because the Checquy are still