Sandkings Read Online Free Page A

inviting her to join them. She flushed, then regained control of herself and grew icy. “Someone has to put a stop to you, Simon. I guess it's going to be me,” she said. Kress shrugged and enjoyed a lovely meal and thought no more about her threat.
    Until a week later, when a small, stout woman arrived at his door and showed him a police wristband. “We've had complaints,” she said. “Do you keep a tank full of dangerous insects, Kress?"
    “Not insects,” he said, furious. “Come, I'll show you."
    When she had seen the sandkings, she shook her head. “This will never do. What do you know about these creatures, anyway? Do you know what world they're from? Have they been cleared by the ecological board? Do you have a license for these things? We have a report that they're carnivores, possibly dangerous. We also have a report that they are semi-sentient. Where did you get these creatures, anyway?"
    “From Wo and Shade,” Kress replied.
    “Never heard of them,” the woman said. “Probably smuggled them in, knowing our ecologists would never approve them. No, Kress, this won't do. I'm going to confiscate this tank and have it destroyed. And you're going to have to expect a few fines as well."
    Kress offered her a hundred standards to forget all about him and his sandkings.
    She tsk ed. “Now I'll have to add attempted bribery to the charges against you."
    Not until he raised the figure to two thousand standards was she willing to be persuaded. “It's not going to be easy, you know,” she said. “There are forms to be altered, records to be wiped. And getting a forged license from the ecologists will be time-consuming. Not to mention dealing with the complainant. What if she calls again?"
    “Leave her to me,” Kress said. “Leave her to me."
    * * * *
    He thought about it for a while. That night he made some calls.
    First he got t'Etherane the Petseller. “I want to buy a dog,” he said, “A puppy."
    The round-faced merchant gawked at him. “A puppy? That is not like you, Simon. Why don't you come in? I have a lovely choice."
    “I want a very specific kind of puppy,” Kress said. “Take notes. I'll describe to you what it must look like."
    Afterward he punched for Idi Noreddian. “Idi,” he said, “I want you out here tonight with your holo equipment. I have a notion to record a sandking battle. A present for one of my friends."
    * * * *
    The night after they made the recording, Simon Kress stayed up late. He absorbed a controversial new drama in his sensorium, fixed himself a small snack, smoked a joy-stick or two, and broke out a bottle of wine. Feeling very happy with himself, he wandered into the living room, glass in hand.
    The lights were out. The red glow of the terrarium made the shadows flushed and feverish. He walked over to look at his domain, curious as to how the blacks were doing in the repairs on their castle. The puppy had left it in ruins.
    The restoration went well. But as Kress inspected the work through his magnifiers, he chanced to glance closely at the face. It startled him.
    He drew back, blinked, took a healthy gulp of wine, and looked again.
    The face on the walls was still his. But it was all wrong, all twisted . His cheeks were bloated and piggish, his smile was a crooked leer. He looked impossibly malevolent.
    Uneasy, he moved around the tank to inspect the other castles. They were each a bit different, but ultimately all the same.
    The oranges had left out most of the fine detail, but the result still seemed monstrous, crude—a brutal mouth and mindless eyes.
    The reds gave him a satanic, twitching kind of smile. His mouth did odd, unlovely things at its corners.
    The whites, his favorites, had carved a cruel idiot god.
    Simon Kress flung his wine across the room in rage. “You dare ,” he said under his breath. “Now you won't eat for a week, you damned...” His voice was shrill. “I'll teach you.” He had an idea. He strode out of the room, and returned a moment