Dagger Key and Other Stories

“We’ve tried to help them—that hasn’t worked,” said Elaine. “And they’ve thwarted our best efforts at destroying them.”

“That goes without saying…though it’s been centuries since we made a concerted effort in that regard,” said Jenay. “They’re like roaches in their perseverance.”

“We don’t have the strength of will we once had. I’m sure that’s due in part to my leadership, but I won’t accept all the blame.” Lucan shook his head ruefully. “I wish you could have known Furio. If ever a man was suited for a time…”

“My mother knew him,” said Jenay. “In fact, he sent a gift on the occasion of my birth.”

“Furio was perfectly suited for the Dark Ages,” Lucan went on. “He was as decisive as an ax, and as pitiless. When it came time for his release, he…”

“We know,” said Elaine with heavy sarcasm. “It woke volcanoes, knocked down walls a hundred miles away, and created a symphony in the process.”

“You’ve never attended a release,” Lucan said. “If you had, you might not be so disrespectful.”

Elaine wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Nobody I know would be so vulgar as to perform such a ritual. It makes you wonder at the sensibilities of our ancestors. The pyrotechnic release of one’s life energy to entertain a crowd of drunks. It’s…” She cast about for an appropriate word. “Primitive!”

“Being primitive has its uses,” said Jenay. “There’s a reason for the persistence of these cultural relics.”

“That’s how it’s come to be viewed,” said Lucan. “A cultural relic. I prefer to see it as something more vital. When Furio knew death was upon him, he gathered his friends so they might witness the vigor of his passing and celebrate the potency of his days.”

“For all his potency, he failed to destroy the humans,” I said.

Lucan scowled. “The animals. They outbred the plague. That’s all. The one thing they do well is breed.”

“They outbred us, to be sure. If we hadn’t found our little French thistle, we’d have gone the way of the wooly mammoth.” I paused, tamping down my annoyance with Lucan. “Yet if they hadn’t outbred us, if it were a choice we’d been presented, a trade-off, giving up procreative dominance in exchange for long life and the enhancement of our mental gifts, who here would have it otherwise? We should view our survival as a gift, not a privilege. They earned their right to survive. They…”

Lucan snorted. “Next you’ll be telling us their survival is God’s will.”

“My problem is,” Elaine said, “I don’t enjoy it anymore.”

“Enjoy what?” Jenay asked impatiently.

“Exploiting them.” Elaine half-turned to her. “Taylor’s right. This ritual dominance, this antiquated behavior, colors our lives. It’s a debased practice, no different from a release. And I don’t like how it makes me feel.”

“How does it make you feel?” asked Jenay, archly.

“Taylor’s not right!” Lucan said. “Not in the way you mean, at any rate.”

“Uneasy.” Elaine met Jenay’s challenging stare. “Uncertain of myself. You know.”

“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Jenay.

I saw that Liliana had let her head fall back, exposing the arch of her throat, and Giacinta was pressing her lips to it, feathering her tongue along a vein that showed beneath the skin. The sight infuriated me.

“This is ridiculous!” I said. “The entire conversation.”

“You insisted on having it.” Jenay signaled to a waiter that he could remove her plate.

“We’re not having the conversation I wanted. Far from it.” I paced to the end of the table. “Look. We’ve established that we can’t exterminate them, not without killing ourselves in the process. Now, despite our best efforts to save them, they’re on the verge of destroying themselves…and us. We’re the superior beings. Can’t we come up with a scenario other than one that involves mere containment or their destruction?”

Without bothering to excuse themselves, a silent communion having been reached, Vid and Daniele left the table and, soon after, the room. His expression bemused, Lucan started to speak, but I cut him off and said, “We have to examine the possibility that our intervention is stimulating their urge toward self-destruction.”

“Not this again,” said Jenay.

“Yes, we’ve mentioned it,” I said. “But always as a drollery. We need to take it seriously. If these dinners have any purpose, they remind us how easily we can damage them. One touch and they start to come apart. Look at their leaders, the ones whom we’ve influenced most frequently. They’re pathetic. The majority of them can’t even muster coherent speech.”

“Pish-posh,” said Lucan.

“Look at Rappenglueck,” I said.

The professor lifted his head and belched, and Lucan said, “Let’s not make this personal, shall we? The thing is, our affairs are inextricably mingled with theirs. We can’t afford to take the chance that Taylor may not be right.” He pointed at the door. “Someone should check on the boys. Elaine?”

Elaine lowered her head. “Somebody else go.”

Lucan turned to Jenay.

“They’re just off to have sex,” she said.

“We don’t want that, do we? Not with the staff still here. And the manager. Why complicate things?”