“She hired Colt when there was a quota on. And, make no mistake, he was the best candidate we interviewed. But there’s no quota on now, and I’d bet you my father’s reputation that she hired an indigo to replace him.”

“But there are three other guldmen here,” Melina said. “Even if she’s going by quotas, she has hired fairly.”

“She’d get rid of us all if she could do it,” Pakt said.

“Even you?” Nolan asked.

Pakt smiled, an expression that was an odd mixture of sadness and anger. “Especially me,” he said.

*   *   *

Naturally, no one talked of anything else for the rest of the day, though the conversations were whispered and tended to break down along race lines. Cerisa, who had been absent much of the past few days, was very much in evidence, saying little to any of them but making sure they marked her presence. As soon as she appeared, they all melted back into their offices to try and continue the hopeless task of concentrating on their projects. Nolan, for his part, accomplished nothing useful the entire day.

As the quitting hour rolled around, Melina appeared in his office. “Are you busy tomorrow night?” she asked.

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“I want you to come with me.”

“Come with you where?” he replied suspiciously.

“To see Colt.”

“To see—” Nolan stared at her. “That can’t be a good idea.”

Melina shrugged. “That’s what Pakt said. Will you come?”

“I don’t even know where he lives.”

“I got his address from Dade.”

“Do you know how to find it?”

“It’s somewhere off West One.”

“West One! Not once in my life have I ever exited there.”

“I know. Me either. Will you come?”

“What if I won’t?”

She shrugged. “I’ll go by myself.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Well, I will.”

“Why don’t you just let Pakt go? He said he would.”

“Because Colt put a curse on Pakt, and he didn’t put one on you and me. Because it’s important that we show him that we haven’t abandoned him. Because he’s a friend of ours.”

“I don’t know that I’d actually consider him a friend,” Nolan said slowly. “I don’t know that he actually likes either of us.”

She shrugged again. “Fine,” she said, and left before Nolan could say another word.

He left without speaking to her again. During the trip home (which seemed longer than usual this night), he could think of nothing else. There was no reason, of course, they should not go to the gulden residential districts off of West One. Those were not areas particularly known for violence, and, like other parts of the city, they were regularly patroled by security forces. And yet—it was the heart of gulden territory within the city. It would be like traveling to a foreign land.