Steel Rain (42 page)

"You have questions. Doubts."

Machiko considers, and says, "I have parents who love me. For this, I am very grateful."

"And what of Okido-san?"

"The Chairman?" Machiko is unsure what to say. "Once, I believed that I understood him. Now I wonder if I know anything of him but the face he chooses to show."

Kuroda
-sensei
says, "If you know the Way broadly, you will see it in all things. You will understand the duty of a man bearing a mountain of obligation. You will perceive the sacrifices that have been made. You will discover a devotion even greater than your own. Beyond even the fanaticism of a warrior."

Perhaps this is so. If Honjowara
-sama
is indeed the man she has always believed him to be, it must be so. "Would not such a man desire to honor his every obligation, regardless of how large or small?"

Slightly, Kuroda
-sensei
bows. "It is so."

Machiko breathes deeply, and says, "Such a man should fulfill his obligation to his genetic daughter. He should face her and tell her of the past, of the many things a daughter has the right to know and understand."

Again, Kuroda
-sensei
bows. "And now a man awaits only your request or summons, humbly, with regret for what has happened, and hope for what may be. He desires to speak of all these things."

"He asked you here to say this?"

"He did indeed."

Machiko, then, can only bow and say, "Then I will go and meet with him. And I will listen to all he has to say."

A generic daughter's obligation.

One she will honor most willingly.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nathan Yale Xavier ("Nyx") Smith began his writing career by revising the Twenty-third Psalm to excoriate Richard Nixon about Watergate, only to be called down to the principal's office, and has been getting into trouble ever since. His early experiences as an altar boy (passing out from the summer heat) perhaps inspired his late-adolescent abhorrence of anything resembling a suit and tie, as well as a lingering aversion to ever becoming a "suit" himself. He has not seen a barber (or other tonsorial artist) in ten years. He has worked as a dishwasher, custodian, landscaper, shipping manager, bookkeeper, and computer operator while making no money for lots of writing. He drives an old car that's very nondescript. He originally thought a cyber-esque world with magic and elves a pretty strange idea, but then Striper came along and asserted that it all makes perfect sense.

The author strives always to avoid arguing with characters of as menacing a stripe as Striper, and recommends this practice to all those with a hankering toward longevity.

Nyx Smith continues to live in a basement on Long Island (New York's most notable sandbar) along with a salmagundi of doloris nocturnum, but has traded his Selectrics for a 486/33 that occasionally shows signs of paranatural infestation. He invites readers of his Shadowrun® novels
Striper
Assassin
,
Fade
To
Black
,
Who
Hunts
The
Hunter
, and this book,
Steel
Rain
, to send him comments, critiques, or complaints about his writing, characters, plots, and so on, in care of FASA Corporation, 1100 W. Cermack, B305, Chicago, IL, 60608.

Copyright

ROC

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane,

London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd,

Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

Penguin Books Canada Ltd. 10 Aicom Avenue.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2

Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road,

Auckland 10, New Zealand

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex. England

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

First Printing, March 1997 10 98765432 1

Copyright © FASA Corporation, 1997 All rights reserved

Series Editor: Donna lppolito Cover: Romas

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

SHADOWRUN, FASA, and the distinctive SHADOWRUN and FASA logos are registered trademarks of the FASA Corporation, 1100 W. Cermak, Suite B305,

Chicago, IL 60608.

Printed in the United States of America

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT QUANTITY DISCOUNTS WHEN USED TO PROMOTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. FOR INFORMATION PLEASE WRITE TO PREMIUM MARKETING DIVISION, PENGUIN BOOKS USA INC., 375 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10014If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this "stripped book."