“A half dozen bricks of the driest damn break-your-teeth bread ever baked!”

Rubio coughed again, wiped his mouth. “Of course, in any given group, there’s a limited number of functional participants to any discussion. Mercifully, that group is still in the room talking.”

“And everyone else . . . ?”

“Eating. Drinking. Gossiping. Arguing. Sleeping. Playing cards. Even had a skins versus shirts game going in the hall until it got too dark to see the nets. Or the ball.”

Stepping onto the float, I recalled Daniel’s warning: the perfect time for a raid. “I hope Security is on their toes. The only strength we’d have is in numbers.”

“Not a bad one to have,” noted Breakers, vaulting gracefully onto the float after me, rifle aloft in one hand. “Woulda made a difference back at Ladysmith’s.”

After what I’d seen at the Souk, I wasn’t so sure. But I nodded.

“One thing everyone agreed to: cancel all picking till we figure out how to keep our people safe on the streets.” Still talking, Rubio clambered out of the boat while we steadied it. He moved slowly, like it was hard work, like his overactive brain was consuming all his energy, energy that should be fighting his illness. “Tommy says he’s had a half dozen of his folks not come home from night shift. Just vanish.”

“Oof! That’s bad.”

“It’s all bad,” Breakers said.

A quick glance through the window arch showed Daniel speeding the kayak deftly among the jam-up of boats. This felt like pursuit, so I ran.

“Yeah, Empire’s lost a few, too,” Rubio went on. “Irv thinks it’s packs of Stormies vacuuming up whoever they run into. Hey, wait up!”

Leaving Breakers to tie up the dinghy, I was halfway up the ladder. “Missed too much already!”

“I can fill you in!”

I kept on. In the mudroom, a mournful chorus floated in from the stairwell. I peered around the corner. My tier-mate Kari bent over one of the den’s salvaged guitars, picking out a maudlin melody for singers crowding at her feet. No one sounded entirely sober. I refilled my water bottle at the potable tank, then drank as I went along. Didn’t want Daniel catching up with me here.

The main hall was a tipsy mass of humanity, humming and content, with barely a lantern or candle burning. Denfolk were used to living in the dark. I eased through, apologizing right and left. Most hardly noticed. Rousseau must be totally distracted, to let all this go on, and so late.