‘I’d like the little catadapt,’ said Mennecken, staring across the restaurant.

‘As long as you are quiet,’ Pelter replied.

‘I will be. Can’t speak for her,’ said Mennecken.

‘Now,’ said Pelter, ‘if we might return to why I asked you here?’

‘Don’t mind me,’ said Mennecken.

Pelter did not. He made sure he had the attention of them all before going on. ‘I will pay you each one hundred thousand New Carth shillings to help me get to a certain man and kill him.’

Corlackis let out a low whistle. ‘Some man, then,’ he said.

Stanton said, ‘He’s an ECS agent called Ian Cormac.’

‘I eat them for breakfast,’ said Mennecken.

Corlackis did not seem so sure. Stanton guessed that he recognized the name.

* * *

Pelter glanced over at the parked AGC Dusache had pointed out and tried not to sneer. This group was very unprofessional, nothing like Cormac. His sneer faded as he tried to work out the origins of that thought. Did it come from the dichotomy of running two augs that now seemed almost inimical to each other? Or was it from himself? He shook rain from his hair and glared through the false twilight.

The sky was growing darker and the rain steadily heavier. Tough growths, with the appearance of black briars, were pushing up between the slabs of the AGC park, and were not the only unwelcome visitors the extra moisture had brought.

‘What the fuck is that?’ said Svent, his hand sliding to the gap in his rainfilm.

Pelter looked at him. He did not even have to vocalize the order. Svent pulled his hand from his film and dropped it to his side. He, Dusache and Pelter watched the creature drawing itself across the slabs. It was a diamond of mounded grey flesh with bulbous eyes and a turned-up snout. A short flat tail flickered at its other end. In all it was two metres long and looked like it could swamp a man. It was not moving with any great speed, though.

‘You should know. You ate part of one last night,’ said Dusache.

Svent looked pained for a moment. ‘Ground skate?’ he asked.

‘With mustard sauce, wasn’t it?’ Dusache queried.