‘No, didn’t think you would. All right, that clarifies things. Next thing is how we go about plantin’ the idea in the captain’s noggin’. Ain’t no use spookin’ him with mention of Ghostie stuff, or the fact that good coves already died in the Fang.’

‘No,’ I said carefully. ‘There’ll be no mention of that. We’ll need to do this together, Proz. It’s going well in the bone room. I think I can start drip-feeding him some juicy intelligence about the Fang, just enough to pluck his interest. Sooner or later, if he bites on what I’ve given him, he’ll want to know how the auguries lie. You might need to sugar that pill a little.’

‘Sugar it a lot, I’d say.’

‘I’m sure you’re up to it.’

‘Dicey one, all the same. Got to make it seem attractive to ’im, enough to dig himself out of the hole he’s in, but not too attractive, or he’ll sniff that there’s a rat.’

I smiled. ‘Two of ’em.’

‘He just don’t know it yet. And the longer he don’t know it, the better it suits Proz.’

I settled my good hand on her shoulder. ‘The better it suits me as well. I never thought you’d be as good a friend to me as you’ve become. But I’m grateful.’

‘Rackamore didn’t know the trouble he was unbottlin’ when he signed you on, Fura. None of us did. But I’m not sorry to be around to see it.’

18

18

I slipped the neural bridge onto my scalp. I’d cut my hair a little more, where it had grown back since my time on the Monetta, and the bridge fitted good and tight now. The skull, rum at first, full of quirks, now felt like the only one I’d ever touched. Being a Bone Reader, I supposed, was a bit like playing a musical instrument. The instrument had to be in tune, but you also had to tune yourself to it, and that wasn’t done in a day or even a month. But once you bent yourself into the right shape, no other instrument would ever feel like the right one.

I got to know the skull’s habits and moods. Whether it was luck, or some prickly intuition, I got better at guessing which node was going to be the talkative one, even without trying out all the peripheral inputs. I could close the bone room door, spin the locking wheel, jack in, and start teasing out whispers inside of a couple of minutes. Trusko liked his intelligence, and it suited me fine to spend long hours in that room, especially as those were hours when I wasn’t having to keep up a front around the others.