‘I’ll worry about that,’ Chetta said. ‘I’m going to need to knock on some doors. And send a few messages as well,’ she added, as something else occurred to her. ‘DeShelle, vox ahead to the astropathic choir – tell them to expect me.’

‘Do you want me to deliver your messages for them myself, my lady?’ DeShelle asked.

‘No,’ Chetta replied, gritting her teeth at the thought of the walk that awaited her. ‘There are some people who will only respond to my personal cipher. At least when it comes to the questions I intend to ask.’ She nodded to the other three in turn. ‘I have a nasty feeling that we’re going to start turning up some things that don’t want to be found. Watch your backs, all of you.’

‘And you, my lady,’ Luc Krane replied, saluting her. He turned on his heel and strode off, with DeShelle trotting beside him to keep up. Vittariel nodded to her and went his own way, his long legs eating up the richly carpeted ground. Chetta sighed, took a firm hold on her cane, and set off.

I’ll watch my back, don’t worry about that, she added in the privacy of her own head. My only question is just who I need to be watching out for.

The Star Lounge

The Star Lounge

It was Della Terrell, one of the family types, who’d told Radimir about the Star Lounge. She was a furtive sort, all twitching eyes and nervous lips, who spoke side-on as though eyeing her escape routes. Radimir would have thought that she’d been scared by his butchery of Emerson Tobias, but he’d seen her acting in exactly the same way towards other Children of the Serpent, ones who could surely pose her no immediate threat.

‘Your pardon, goodsire,’ she’d muttered hesitantly. ‘But there’s this place my sister Nansi runs, a bar you see, but there’s a secret room beyond where they keep the narcs for those as can pay.’

‘I have no need of such things,’ Radimir had said shortly, intending to dismiss her.

‘But, goodsire, there’s a pair of ladies what go there often, high-born by their clothes, though they try to dress plain. They meet there, and we’re sure they think they’re being all secret about it, but we see them well enough. And though they always keep their foreheads covered, Nansi swears they’re Three-Eyes!’