Strambli had brought a metal case full of equipment, crammed wih cutters, cables, picks, listening devices and little electrical boxes with magnetic pads. She was already opening it up, ready to have a crack at the door.

‘I’m not sure, Captain,’ I said. ‘The whispers I got through the skull were pretty clear. Everything at this level’s been cleaned out centuries ago. If it’s going to take Strambli time to get through the door, then I think we should go deeper and make the best of her time.’

‘We’re hardly in a rush, Fura.’

‘I know that, Captain, but ain’t there always an element of uncertainty, even when the auguries are solid? I’m just saying, if we know the good loot’s deeper, maybe we should get at that first, and then see what’s left over behind these other doors.’

‘Watch your step, Prozor,’ Strambli said. ‘Fura’s got her eye on your job, by the sounds of things.’

‘She can try.’ But after a silence, Prozor said: ‘What she says ain’t anything you need a Bauble Reader to tell you, Captain.’

‘Then you agree with her?’ Trusko asked.

‘I ain’t sayin’ that, exactly . . . just that we ought to start deep and work our way back up.’

‘Hmph,’ Trusko grunted. ‘Well, it seems we’ve been overruled, Strambli. Our two most junior recruits think they know better than the senior hands, when it comes to cracking a bauble.’

‘They might have a point,’ Strambli said, sealing up the case. ‘We didn’t go to all that trouble to find a league and half of line for nothing, did we?’

If ever there was a cove that sounded less enthusiastic about doing something, I hadn’t met them. But I bet Trusko would have whistled a different tune if he knew who was sitting out there in space, waiting to pounce on his ship.

I thought about telling him there and then. It would be news to him, certainly. And to Strambli.

But also news to Prozor.

I didn’t think any of them needed to know right away.

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