The Apocalypse Codex Quotes
"A clear spring night over Bavaria, cloudless and chilly."
"It’s cold and noisy in the unpressurized cabin."
"A midnight HALO drop over mountainous terrain, then a rooftop landing on a madman’s folly guarded by unholy nightmares?"
"Everything will be fine once it’s back in its wards."
"Nobody has ever accused Persephone Hazard of being sane."
"Maintaining that much contact with everyday life is central to keeping Agent CANDID sane."
"I’m in the business of securing our nation’s vital arteries of commerce against the scum of the internet."
"You’ll have no objection to accompanying me to lunch at a restaurant, will you?"
"The one unbreakable law of the British secret services has been: Thou shalt not snoop on Number Ten."
"But ours is not to question why, etcetera. Take notes, do not draw attention to yourself."
"It is a corollary of the preceding rule that we never employ external contractors."
"Any sufficiently advanced lingerie is indistinguishable from a lethal weapon."
"My new boss phoned. Told me to bring my go-bag. I might be late for dinner."
"You should send Bob. He doesn’t like glamours. Do you, Bob?"
"There are two types of people in this world, those who think there are only two types of people in the world, and everybody else."
"This card draws against an account held by the Ministry of Defense—supposedly for entertaining visiting Saudi royalty or equally dubious people."
"You’re wrong this time, Duchess. Snark or Boojum. What if he is a true believer, have you thought about that?"
"If you pray to Jesus on the cosmic party line and something at the other end picks up the receiver, because you happen to have an affinity for the uncanny and your prayers attract attention, what are you going to assume?"
"An’ I never yet met a con man who wasn’t the better at the job for believing his own spiel."
"A church is a business, after all, and those employees or executives who are good at raising money are promoted by their fellows."
"If you’re not raising a large family, even if you’re infertile, then you’re not doing all you can for Jesus."
"They’re united not merely by a common mission but a shared hunger for salvation."
"We want twice-daily verbal reports and I want to see you in person within twenty-four hours. Is that understood?"
"Loyalty is—has to be—a two-way street in my line of work."
"If I don’t do my damnedest to see them to safety, what does that say about me?"
"I understand that you’re telling me to leave the two contractors you made me responsible for to die in a train wreck."
"I stare at the phone as if it’s grown bat wings and fangs."
"Persephone and Johnny are out there right now, being stalked by walking corpses with parasites for tongues and heads full of revelation."
"The complaints department sets up a horrendous racket as I slide the grid under it."
"I finish doodling on the inside of the box, and collect a handy cable from my travel electronics kit."
"I gingerly transfer the live summoning grid to the carpet in front of the bin."
"Summonings and containment grid, field-expedient, 101: if the thing you’re trying to contain is pallid, has too many legs, and is about the size of a human tongue, a pizza box will do just fine."
"I disconnect my phone, close the pizza box, and stuff it in the bottom of my go-bag."
"It is easier to ask forgiveness than to request permission, especially if the gambit works."
"It feels as if Persephone is dredging these fears out of the depths of my own imagination."
"A normal reaction might run the gamut from panic, fear, and offers of cooperation, through self-pity and ingratiation to anger, even defiant threats."
"We make splendid toys for their amusement, until we break."
"I'm not an atheist these days (even though I wish I was)."
"Winter is not over yet; there can be savage cold snaps."
"You've got a map, Duchess, and Mr. Howard here has got a compass."
"The situation is deteriorating by the hour, so I suggest we discontinue the bluster and concentrate on ways of preventing a meltdown."
"We’re driving through snow descending in thick, blanketing sheets across the street."
"The only major installation within the zone is the Air Force Academy."
"We are dealing with a particularly dangerous cult: Christian millennialists who are reading from some extra books in their Bible."
"For the priests of the Lord are of the house of Levi, and what are we if not the guardians of the holy seed?"
"Butterflies in my stomach; it’s dark and there’s a breeze from behind."