"Because we were around looking for him. He must have spotted one of us."

"If he did, I want to know that. You hike on down there and light a fire under Goblin's ass. Hear?"

"Right. Whatever you say, boss." Though he commanded the advance party, technically I outranked Elmo. But I was not about to press for prerogatives at the moment. There was too much tension in the air.

There was stress throughout Duretile, and I did not understand most of it. I remained on the periphery of the Taken's study of the black castle. Just another messenger boy, a foot-slogger bringing in data from the city. I hadn't the slightest notion what they had discovered by direct examination. Or even if they were studying the castle directly. They could be lying back, afraid they would alert the Dominator to their presence.

One of the men located me in Elmo's quarters. "Whisper wants you, Croaker."

I jumped a foot. Guilty conscience. "What for?" I had not seen her for weeks.

"You'll have to go see. She didn't say." He sneered, hoping he would see an officer in the soup. He figured I was in trouble.

He figured that; so did I. I dawdled as much as I dared, but eventually had to present myself. Whisper glared at me as i entered. "You people haven't found a damned thing down there. What are you doing? Dogging it? Taking a vacation? Well, say something." "I. . . ."

"Do you know the black castle stopped growing after our raid on the Crater group? No? Why not? You're supposed to be finding out these things." "None of the prisoners accounted for the. ..." "I know that. I know none of them knew who the main body supplier was. But that supplier must have known them. He packed up. There have been just two bodies delivered since. The latest just last night. Why didn't you know that? Why have you got people in the Buskin? They seem incapable of learning anything."

Oh, she was in a mood. I said, "Is the deadline close or something? The way I understood it, we wouldn't be in trouble if only a few bodies were delivered."

"True. As far as it goes. But we've reached a point where a handful might make all the difference."

I bit my lower lip, tried to look properly chastised, and waited.

She told me: "The Lady is pressing. She's very nervous. She wants something to happen up here."

So. As always, the shit rolls downhill. The normal course would be for me to go out and tromp on somebody below me.

"Half the problem is, we don't know what's going on.

If you claim you know what the castle is, how it's growing and so forth, how come you don't go over and kick it down? Or turn it into grape preserves or something?''

"It's not that simple."

It never is. I tend to overlook political ramifications. I am not politically minded.