The Lucifer Deck (38 page)

Carla sighed. "Wrap the story with the comment by the Ork Rights Committee member who lost an eye in Friday’s confrontation in front of Metroplex Hall." she instructed. "That should give Chief Louden something to answer for, at least."

As Wayne finished the piece by tagging on Carla’s sign-off, Pita entered the editing booth. She hopped up on a table and watched as the completed story was replayed, swinging her feet. The white cat poked its head out of her jacket, where it had been hiding. The kid seemed to take the mangy little creature with her everywhere these days. The cat stared at the screen as if assessing the story, its mismatched eyes darting back and forth as images moved across the monitor.

"Well?" Carla asked, turning to the girl. "What do you think?"

The ork girl tilted her head to rub a cheek across the top of the cat’s head. A contented purring filled the editing booth. Carla couldn’t tell if it was coming from the cat—or the girl.

"We like it." Pita said softly. "It won’t bring Chen and the others back, but maybe it’ll stop some other kid from getting geeked."

Carla forced a smile. In the larger scheme of things, it seemed as if nothing had changed. Lone Star still had its quota of bad cops, the corporations were denying all responsibility for the spirit and instead reaping the rewards for having saved the Matrix from a repeat of the Crash of 2029, and Carla was stuck under Mitsuhama’s thumb for the rest of her career.

But at least Pita had come out of this all right. One day, the kid would realize that the world was still just as tarnished as it ever had been. But for now—for today at the very least—the future looked shiny and new.

"Yeah, kid." Carla answered. "I hope so."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Smedman makes her living as a freelance game designer and fiction writer. She has designed numerous adventures for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, primarily for the Ravenloft campaign world, and has done design work for several other game companies. Her short fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies. She previously worked as a magazine editor and newspaper reporter, and has fond memories of working a hard-news beat that included stories on train wrecks, murders, political scandals, and floods.

Smedman lives in Vancouver, B.C. with a small menagerie of felines. She has been an active member of that city’s science fiction community for a number of years. She is also president of Bootstrap Press Inc., publishers of Adventures Unlimited gaming magazine.

Copyright

ROC

Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

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First published by Roc, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.

First Printing, January, 1997 10 98765432

Copyright © FAS A Corporation, 1997 All rights reserved

Series Editor: Donna Ippolito Cover: Carl Gailian

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