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.She'dhave to climb down."Claire!"She crawled to her feet, saw Chris down below, wincingat some pain in his leg amid the broken wood and plaster."Are you okay?" Claire asked, and Chris noddedand then there was a scream, and she felt her blood runcold.It came from beyond the door that Alexia had gonethrough, and it was Steve, there was no question inClaire's mind.It was Steve, and he was in pain.Can't leave Chris, but."Chris, it's him," Claire said, looking between herbrother and the door, not sure what to do."Go, I'll catch up!" Chris called."But.""Go! I'll be fine, just be careful!"Terrified, Claire turned and ran, hoping she wasn'ttoo late.Wesker stepped into the grand foyer of the under-ground mansion, and saw it wasn't quite so grand any-more.Something had happened to the stairs, part of the upper balcony now smashed to the floor.He heard someone moving around behind a huge,jagged piece of balcony still hanging from the tatteredcarpet, and took a step toward it.and there she was.Standing at the top of the stairsin a long, dark dress, silky blond hair tied back from herpale, beautiful face."Alexia Ashford," Wesker said, surprised to find him-self somewhat in awe now that the moment was at hand.She looked human, delicate and helpless, but he knewbetter.Make your pitch, and make it good.Wesker cleared his throat, stepping forward and tak-ing off his sunglasses."Alexia, my name is AlbertWesker.I represent a group who has long admired yourwork, and have been eagerly awaiting your, ah, return."She watched him impassively, head tilted slightly, herback straight and stiff.She looked like a debutante at herfirst society party."And may I add that it's a personal honor to meetyou," Wesker said sincerely."My employers told me allabout you.I know your father sired you with the genesof his own great-great grandmother, Veronica - thatwith her genetic material, the very foundation of theAshford line, he created you and Alfred to be the culmi-nation of genius.Veronica would surely be proud.I know you created T-Veronica in her honor."careful, he probably shouldn't mention what had hap-pened to her father, don't bitch this up, ".and that youare the only, ah, being alive with access to the virus.""I am the virus," Alexia said coolly, studying himthrough narrowed eyes."Yes, of course," Wesker said.God, he hated thisdiplomatic shit, he was terrible at it, but he wanted toimpress her, to impress upon her how valuable she wasto certain interested parties."So," he continued, thinking how much easier thingswould have been if he'd gotten to her in stasis, "I wouldlike it very much - we would all appreciate it if youwould agree to accompany me to a private meeting withmy employers, to discuss an alliance of sorts.I can as-sure you that you won't be disappointed."She waited to see if he was finished and thenlaughed, long and loud.Wesker felt himself flush.It wasclear from her tone exactly what she thought of his re-quest.Fine.Nice time is over.Wesker stepped forward and held out his hand."Wewant a sample of T-Veronica," he said, the gloss disap-pearing from his voice."And I'm going to have to insistthat you give it to me." As she started down the stairs, for just a second hethought she was going to do it, but then she started tochange, and he stopped thinking anything.He couldonly stare, his awe returning tenfold.A step down, and her dress burned away in searingveins of golden light, the light coming from her body.Another step, and her flesh changed, turned a deep gray,her hair disappearing, gray flesh locks growing from thetop of her head and flopping down to frame her face.Her nakedness was transformed with her next step, asrough, pebbled armor grew over one leg and her groin,curled up to support a rounded breast, to cover her rightarm.By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs,she no longer resembled Alexia Ashford.His breath taken away, Wesker reached for her - andwith the back of her hand, she struck him, and then hewas flying, landing in a heap by the front door.Such power!He stood up, understanding that force might be use-ful, and prepared himself to move, to use his ownpower.and with a smile, she waved her hand and fire burstup from the marble floor, lines of it surrounding nun,beckoned to life by her slender fingers.She lowered herhand and the flames went down but didn't die, still burn-ing from stone, from bare stone [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]