The Toll (Arc of a Scythe) - Neal Shusterman Page 0,111

invitation. Yet in spite of all that, those who supported Goddard were also galvanized, insisting that “those people” at the stadium deserved gleaning – because anyone who would want to witness an execution deserved what they got. Even though they were probably all watching themselves before the feed was cut.

Most people, however, didn’t take a position either way. They just wanted to disappear into the pleasantries of their lives. As long as when bad things happened, they happened somewhere else, to someone they didn’t know, it was not their problem. Except that everyone knew someone who knew someone who was at the stadium that day and didn’t come home.

Nietzsche continued to try to soothe Goddard, who still stormed around the conference room.

“Anastasia is nothing, Your Excellency,” Nietzsche said. “But by reacting to her, you’re making her much more important than she needs to be.”

“So I should just ignore her and her accusations?”

“Accusations are all they are, and we don’t even yet know what she’s accusing you of. She’s an itch best left unscratched, Your Excellency.”

That actually made Ayn laugh – because she could imagine Goddard scratching an itch until he bled out.

Finally spent, Goddard slammed himself down into a chair and reined in his rage. “Tell me what’s going on out there,” he demanded. “Tell me what I need to know.”

Nietzsche sat down at the conference table “Allied scythedoms are either supporting what you did at the stadium or are remaining silent. Scythedoms who stand against you are calling for you to self-glean – but I’m more concerned with the flood of people crossing the border into the LoneStar region.”

“You wanted fear,” Ayn said. “Now you’ve got it.”

“We’re exploring the possibility of building a wall to stem the exodus.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Goddard said. “Only idiots build walls. Let them go – and once we succeed in absorbing the LoneStar region, those who abandoned MidMerica will be marked for gleaning.”

“Is that how you solve every problem now?” Ayn asked. “Glean it away?”

She expected him to snap back at her, but his mood had settled. “It’s what we do, Ayn. It’s the tool we’ve been granted – the only tool we can wield.”

“And then,” continued Nietzsche, “there’s the matter of the Tonists.”

“Tonists!” lamented Goddard. “Why must Tonists always be on the agenda?”

“You turned their prophet into a martyr,” Ayn pointed out. “In spite of what you think, dead enemies are harder to fight than live ones.”

“Except…” said Nietzsche, hesitating.

“Except what?” Goddard prompted.

“Except that we’ve been tracking reports that the Toll has appeared to people.”

Goddard grunted in disgust. “Yes, I know. In clouds, and in the patterns of burnt toast.”

“No, Your Excellency. I mean in the flesh. And we’re beginning to think the reports might be credible.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Well, we never confirmed that the body presented was actually the Toll’s. It’s possible that he’s still alive.”

Ayn took a deep breath, suspecting another round of things not breaking was about to begin.

34

A Better Place

“I know most people don’t follow what happens in the scythedom. That’s natural. The scythedom was created so that most people would never have to deal with the bringers of death until death was brought to them.

“But the sinking of Endura affected us all. It made the Thunderhead go silent and mark everyone unsavory. And without Grandslayers to moderate, it led to an imbalance of power within the scythedom.

“We’ve had a stable world for over two hundred years. But not anymore. If we want that stability back, we have to fight for it. Not just those of us in the scythedom, but everyone. And when you hear what I have to say, you’re going to want to fight.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Is Scythe Anastasia going to make the accusation? Is she going to publicly point the finger at Goddard as the killer of the Grandslayers, and the destroyer of Endura?’

“You’ll have to wait, because there are other cases that must be made first. Other accusations. I’m going to show you a history of unthinkable acts that go against everything the scythedom is supposed to stand for.

“It’s a story that doesn’t start with Goddard – in fact, it starts years before he was even born.

“In the Year of the Lynx, the Nectaris Prime colony on the moon had what they called a catastrophic atmospheric failure. Their entire supply of oxygen – even the reserve of liquid oxygen – vented into space, killing every colonist. Not a single survivor.

“Everyone knows about that – it’s something we all learned in school. But