AlterWorld

Another question. How sure was I that I should get into it in the first place? Apart from risking a serious sum of money, there was also a slim chance of me dropping myself in it and another, albeit infinitesimal, danger of framing Mom for it. These were the only arguments against the whole idea.

Now for the arguments in its favor. First, I had given her my word. Secondly, this was my woman asking me for help. Thirdly, I'd had the real world's leniency and corruption up to my ears. Now I had a perfect opportunity to give the bad guys what for and see them collapse and croak. It didn't matter who the bad guys were: a couple of self-indulgent Muslim kids or our own cops who'd lost perspective of their power. No, I had to have the right.

Dan was watching my face and probably had no problem reading my thoughts. He nodded. "I can see you've made up your mind. Can you raise the money?"

"I think so. I'll need a couple of days. I also need to discuss it with Taali. You think you trust your new alliance partner enough to lend him some cash if needed?"

"We'll think of something."

He rose, making it clear he was finished with me. "You discuss it. Keep me posted."

I showed him to the door, nodded to the bodyguards outside and walked back into the room. A slight movement caught my eye; I swung round, suppressing a shriek of surprise.

A white Wi

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Taali liked our new home. She even managed to befriend the vicious Wi

With her, Wi

Predictably, Taali was overjoyed to hear about specialist help and especially the gun. She said she had about three grand stashed away but if she was going perma, then she could sell some stuff for another thousand. At eighteen, she hadn't had enough time to amass much. I had to tell her that she was doing just fine. Especially compared to some other people who had nothing but a bunch of loans to show for their lives.

We spent the rest of the day rolling cigarettes. I worked my way through the overflowing auto buy inbox and flagged messages from those willing to buy in bulk. I immediately wrote back and got a few responses allowing me to place a few dozen private auction lots for a fixed price. Not everyone put their money where their mouth was, but a good half of all offers went through. By the evening, we'd raised over fifteen grand, plus another six from the auction which was still in full swing. The feeding frenzy had started to flag; the prices were going down: apparently, the first rumors about our alliance had already leaked out.

A bit later, Lieutenant Brown brought armfuls of my stuff from the i

All in all, we had two thirds of the required sum, enough for a deposit. I was almost sure it would take Dan and his men a good couple of weeks to get their act together—enough time for us to raise the rest.

As we toiled, we discussed my future clan. Apparently, I already had my first volunteer. No one doubted that Taali would join me. But when we came to the clan's name, she showed her responsible side, rejecting my suggestions. Finally, she made up her mind.

"This is your clan," she said. "You're its patriarch. Its father, in other words. Your Elven name means Child of Night. So this is what you should call your clan: Children of Night."

"And how do you suggest we exist in the Lands of Light with this kind of name?"

"Who forces you to reveal it? You can hide it somewhere in the settings. Lots of people do that. You'll still be Laith to everybody, and that's it."

The next day we met Dan again. He accepted the deposit and spent some quality time speaking to Taali, instructing her and asking her for more details. Things got rolling. The countdown had begun.

We decided to turn the signing of the agreement into a promotional opportunity. A new alliance was coming into the world, whether someone liked it or not. We were guaranteed some conflict, anyway, even if no one dared to challenge us—which was unlikely. The mere feeling of their own latent power could drive other clans to solve their difference of opinions by force. This could be a new clan war in the making.

We issued invitations to the media, including the insistent journalist who'd cadged an interview from me. I had to move it if I didn't want to lose the three grand he'd promised. We spent two hours over some coffee and cigarettes, discussing the main points of his future article. I especially insisted on stressing the existence of the exclusive license, to convince whoever it might concern that they shouldn't waste their breath trying to kidnap me in order to get their share of the pie. The clans had decided against splitting production. Instead, we wanted to build large premises, hire some NPC alchemists and gain momentum gradually, in accordance with the Admins' guidelines. Everyone invested an equal share. Each clan also delegated their members to an observers group which was supposed to oversee all production stages from purchase to crafting and sales.

Soon we had a formal signing of the coalition formation memorandum. I did my bit writing out a five-year license in the name of the Alliance, granting them the right to sub-license it to NPCs. That was a huge load off my mind. Despite its promise of prosperity, the whole tobacco saga had bowled me over like a steam roller, leaving dents and black marks. I had to be grateful it hadn't killed me. I wanted to escape it all, to forget all this business speak and politics and just take my time exploring this little-known world. I still had lots of quests in my log. Forbidden Lands were calling my name.

I spent three more days at the castle, just to make sure I was safe. The hype started to settle. Fewer people now bothered me with stupid questions. The story was getting stale; the media had turned their attention to other things. What made headlines now was the new ambitious Inferno raid performed by a group of West European clans. The idea interesting in itself, but what raised it to sensation was the loot from the Inferno Archdemon: the group had returned with the Captured Heart of a God of Light. An artifact this powerful would allow the building of a new temple dedicated to one of the Gods of the Pantheon of Light. Each god promised all sorts of bells and whistles in exchange for a certain percent of experience, mana or gold. I still had no idea whether you could get anything off the Fallen One and whether his pantheon had other deities. I'd failed to get to the Dark Altar when I'd had the chance. As the saying went, if you want something done properly, you'd better do it yourself. And the fragments I'd so painstakingly obtained were proof enough.