Excerpt Thursday: SILENT ORDER: WRAITH HAND

It’s Excerpt Thursday! Today’s excerpt is from my science fiction book SILENT ORDER: WRAITH HAND.

I have to admit, this entire conversation between Jack March and Simon Lorre was one of my favorites:

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He sat across from the Machinist agent and waited. Lorre’s suit was expensive and well-cut, and he almost certainly had a pistol in a shoulder holster beneath his coat. It didn’t go with his scarred, rough features, but that would hardly stand out in a place like Monastery Station. Lorre’s eyes flicked over him, no doubt sizing him up as well.

At last Lorre reached into his coat. March’s metal hand curled into a fist, ready to flip the table over if Lorre drew a weapon.

But Lorre only produced a small cardboard carton. “Cigarette?”

March looked at the cigarettes, and then at Lorre.

Lorre sighed. “It’s not poisoned. It’s not full of tracking devices or nanotech or anything like that.”

“Will it explode?” said March.

“Let’s find out,” said Lorre. He produced a lighter, lit a cigarette, lifted it to his mouth, and took a long draw. “Guess not. Just as well, since I’m sitting across from you.”

March reached into the carton and drew out a cigarette. Lorre lit it for him, and March lifted it to his mouth. He didn’t smoke often. Even with the Machinist nanotech in his system, cigarettes did too much damage to his respiratory system. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the sensation of smoke in his lungs and the focus the nicotine brought to his mind.

“If it’s not going to explode,” said March, “then what’s the point?”

Lorre shrugged. “I’m going to have to kill you someday. Possibly very soon. Might as well be neighborly.”

“What, right now?” said March.

“Of course not,” said Lorre. “We’re smoking. Killing you right now would be uncivilized.”

They sat in silence. March took another draw from the cigarette, the smoke blowing out his nose.

“Unhealthy things, aren’t they?” said Lorre. “I really should give them up.”

“It doesn’t matter since I’m going to kill you,” said March.

Lorre raised his eyebrows. “Threats, Captain March?”

March shrugged. “You said you’re going to kill me. When that day comes, I’ll kill you first. So, you might as well have a second cigarette.”

Lorre gave a quiet laugh. “I like that. I like that very much. You’ve caused me a lot of trouble, you know.”

“Have I?” said March.

-JM