‘This should be the area,’ he said with a glance at Geneve. He hoped to Christ she’d keep her mouth shut now. She’d already pissed Pelter off by asking too much about the source of the transponder signal and he now looked ready to kill.

‘I still have no signal,’ Pelter said through gritted teeth.

Veltz shut down the throttle, then eased off the AG—no point in wasting power. It would be a waiting game for a little while yet. He turned and looked at Pelter, trying again not to show any reaction to what he was seeing.

A square-section pipe protruded from Pelter’s left eye, curved round back on itself to lie along the side of his head, above his ear, where it connected to an ugly grey aug, anchored behind the ear itself. Around that eye the skin was pink and new and obviously a graft. His eyelids were sealed round the pipe.

‘As I said,’ said Veltz, after clearing his throat, ‘those egg-bearers go deep, and can stay down for half a day or more. We just have to wait. You won’t get the transponder signal at that depth, and even if you did we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.’

Pelter looked at him with his remaining violet eye. Veltz wondered just what sort of mill he had been put through. Pelter was scarcely the kind to get into anything dangerous without a train of his thugs to back him up. Maybe there was a power struggle going on amongst the Separatists. Maybe Veltz was making a bad move here by helping Pelter out. It had just seemed a good idea not to refuse at the time.

‘How do you know it’s still in this area?’ asked Pelter.

‘They’re territorial. They always stay put,’ replied Veltz.

‘Unless they’re driven off by a younger contender,’ interjected Geneve.

Pelter turned and glared at her. ‘I’m speaking to Veltz. When I want your opinion I’ll ask for it, otherwise keep your mouth shut or you will find yourself wearing a very special smile. Is that clear?’

Geneve seemed set to rebel until Veltz gave her a panicky warning look. She subsided and he quickly began speaking to fill the uncomfortable silence.

‘That doesn’t happen very often. Only when the egg-carriers are getting old. This one here is in its prime, as far as I can recollect.’

He had actually no idea what the egg-carrier in this area was like, as he concentrated his hunting activities further out to sea. He just kept envisioning that ‘smile’ Pelter had referred to. It was what they normally did to traitors: cut away their lips and cheeks, before bringing them out here to throw them alive into the sea. Again, Veltz had seen the evidence.

‘Let’s hope your recollection is not in error,’ warned Pelter.