Hart was not much interested in death at the moment. “What’s the point?”

“The point is business, Elf lady. Always business.”

Hart stared at the wreck that had been Tessien, the only being she had come close to trusting in the last ten years. it was dead now, it had died calling for her, but she had failed it long before that with her groundless suspicions.

Tessien was dead. Anger roared through her, swelling into a rage. Was it Verner’s fault? Should she detest him for being alive while Tessien was dead? Or should she turn her fury against Haesslich for ripping out the serpent’s throat? Or should she despise herself for being the one to send Tessien in to get Sam, putting the serpent in the path of the murderous Haesslich?

Verner’s portable trideo unit continued flickering its story on the wall, It showed Verner, who she had trailed all night and who could not possibly have been present, leading the raiders against Landing Pad 23. Crenshaw’s trap had turned a snatch-and-run into an all-out battle. Images of death and destruction cast their reflections on man and Dragon. On the wall, Crenshaw battled with the doppelganger. Hart dropped a hand to Greerson’s shoulder. “I think you’d better take a look.”

Greerson slipped his goggles into place just in time to see the doppelganger tossing Crenshaw from the landing platform. “Oh, frag it!” He sat down and let out an explosive sigh. “There goes the paycheck.” He started to break down the sniper rifle.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like, Elf lady? Packing up. This job’s over.” He stuffed the pieces of his weapon into his carryall, “Sure you don’t want to hit the Dragon? Since I’m already here, I could give you a good price.”

She shook her head.

“I’ll throw in a professional discount.”

“I think if it’s to be done, it ought to be personal.”

Greerson then shook his head and scratched at his beard. “Personal is bad business, Elf lady. Can I get out the way we got in?”

She nodded, turning her gaze back to the confrontation below them. She heard the rattle of his grapnel as he shook it loose and then she forgot him completely.

Haesslich didn’t like what he saw at all. If he had noticed Sam’s image on the screen, the confusion of the image was swept away by the Dragon’s passion. His rage swelled until it was almost a palpable thing surrounding Sam. And yet all that wrath was simply for the failure of a plan. Again the arrogance of the beast confounded Sam.

As he watched the recording, the sight of his own image was a puzzle, though unimportant at the moment. He was seeing men die. Some died trying to do good; others died trying to do their duty. Shadowrunner or corporate, they were just as dead. He watched himself double-cross and abandon Sally and the others, realizing suddenly that the Sam Verner he was seeing most be some kind of disguise for Jacqueline. What should have been a lightning snatch, leaving the Renraku guards too surprised and outgunned to react, had been twisted into the orgy of death, destruction, and betrayal. Everything connected to Haesslich’s plans, his petty attempts to increase his power, wealth, and influence, ended in death. But the only thing the Dragon saw was that he had been thwarted.

Haesslich’s bitterness crackled in the air. Watching the beast scream its rage, Sam knew it would not suffer him to live much longer. The Dragon could not know that Sam had been betrayed by agents of yet another Dragon, nor would it care.

The Dragon arched its neck back and bellowed, flames flickering about its teeth in promise of a firestonn to come. Sam hoped it wouldn’t be quicker than the jaws. Death for death, Lofwyr had said, but the Dragon hadn’t quite meant it this way. Dying is easy; it’s the next part that gets tricky, Dog had said. Well, the next part was in other hands. Haesslich would reap what he was about to sow.

A song began to run through Sam’s head; it was sung by the quavering voice of Dog. What a crazy time to have a song stuck in his head. Wasn’t his life supposed to be flashing before his eyes? Well, he had heard that crazy people felt no pain. He began to sing along.

Haesslich tilted his head down, lips curling back from his teeth. “It’s but a minor consolation to see your mind snap with fear before your body burns.”

“Come on, wizworm,” Sam shouted giddily, his words seeming to keep time with the song. “Come and get me if you can.”

As the Dragon unleashed his fiery breath, Sam staggered back, the blast wreathing him in flames. Sweat poured off, to be instantly evaporated away. Beneath his feet, the asphalt softened and bubbled. Within the fire, cocooned by the spell song, he was untouched.

With the Dragon’s violence as their cue, Ghost and his tribesmen opened fire from their concealed positions. Haesslich roared, more in surprise than pain, venting flame into the sky. Uncoiling his powerful hind limbs, he launched himself into the night, giant wings spread and beating the air.

The Dragon rapidly gained altitude, escaping the tracers that sought him. Then, with a sudden wing over and a bellow, he dove toward the largest group of attackers.

The sight drove some of Ghost’s tribesmen to flight, but the samurai leader remained steady, standing braced against the parapet. Even his loader fled, leaving the pack of belt-fed ammunition to lie at the Ghost’s feet. The light metal box leapt from its cloth carry sack and danced on the rooftop as the belt uncoiled to feed the voracious appetite of the Vindicator minigun.

The Dragon dodged and rolled to avoid the stream of tracers seeking his hide, but each maneuver only forced him to spend more time trying to reach his attackers. Ghost swiveled the gyro-mount to follow each slip and jink, always pumping more slugs into the beast, who could not completely avoid the Indian’s fire. Crisscrossed with wounds, chunks torn from his flesh, Haesslich pulled up into a stall, throwing off the deadly aim of the man on the roof.

Then Haesslich roiled into another dive, again surprising Ghost, whose tracers cut the night a fill twenty meters from the beast. Wounded beyond endurance, the Dragon suddenly dropped from the air like a rock, straight into the dark waters of Puget Sound. The waters closed over him and Haesslich was gone.