Stanton looked askance at him. ‘Crane’s dangerous, you know that,’ he said. The single eye fixed on him in reply. Stanton felt compelled to go on. ‘I don’t think it’s too much of a problem working out where Cormac’s going. The problem will be getting to him,’ he said.

‘Go on,’ said Pelter.

‘You haven’t heard? It’s on all the news channels,’ said Stanton.

‘I’m getting impatient, John.’

Stanton stood and walked over to the wallscreen. He expertly tapped the small touch-console below it and stepped back. A headline flashed up as the news story he wanted came online.

Samarkand runcible disaster

Stanton watched Pelter as the story unfolded with its ersatz graphics and scenarios. No one yet knew how bad it was, they reported, but it was definitely bad. Pelter’s expression was avid. Stanton knew that he wished this could be put down as a Separatist action; personally he doubted that possibility. Separatist organizations just did not have the clout to cause something as devastating as this. The highest they usually achieved was the detonation of a tactical atomic in a city, and after that ECS would come in and wipe them out, every last one of them. Stanton would take their pay up to the point when they started planning something like that, then he would make himself scarce. As the news story closed he wondered if he might be getting near to one of those points now.

‘You think he’ll go there?’ Pelter asked.

‘He went straight out on the first shuttle to Cereb, so he’s on his way there. I’d say he must have been recalled, else he would still be here mopping up the mess.’ Pelter fixed him with that look again.

Stanton quickly went on. ‘The nearest runcible to Samarkand is on Minostra. That’s where any rescue or clear-up operation will be run from. We should easily be able to confirm that he went there. Just a little money in the right pocket.’

‘Very well,’ Pelter said. ‘We need something more than a few handguns and explosives.’

‘Anything more would be expensive, and difficult to bring here,’ said Stanton.

‘I don’t want them here. Where’s our usual supplier?’

‘Huma—and he’s one of many there.’

‘Very well, that’s where we go. Contact Dusache, Menneken, Corlackis and Svent, and have them meet us there. Promise them double the usual. We also get Mr. Crane because, unless I miss my bet, friend Ian Cormac is going to have Golem backup.’

Yeah, thought Stanton, the point where he moved on was arriving. Maybe a million shillings was not enough.

‘Where is Mr. Crane?’ he asked.

‘At the residence. He’s hidden there.’