"Miss Coldwine." He looked at her without warmth.

"Lieutenant," she said. "I wanted to know how I might place some mail in the New Crobuzon storeroom of which Captain Myzovic told me. I have something urgent to send…"

Her voice petered out. He was shaking his head.

"Impossible, Miss Coldwine. I can spare no one to escort you, I don’t have the key and I am not asking the captain for it now… Would you like me to go on?"

Bellis felt a sting of misery, and she held herself very still.

"Lieutenant," she said slowly, keeping her voice emotionless. "Lieutenant, the captain himself promised me that I might deposit my letter. It is extremely important."

"Miss Coldwine," he interrupted, "if it were down to me I would escort you myself, but I cannot, and I am afraid that is an end to the matter. But besides…" He looked up furtively, then whispered again. "Besides… please don’t speak of this but… you’ll have no need of the warehouse. I can’t say any more. You’ll understand in a few hours. The captain’s called a meeting early tomorrow morning. He’ll explain. Believe me, Miss Coldwine. You don’t need to deposit your letter here. I give you my word."

What is he implying?Bellis thought, panicked and exhilarated. What is he godsdamned implying?

Like most of the prisoners, Tanner Sack never moved far from the space he had claimed. Near the infrequent light from above and also the food, it was sought-after. Twice someone had tried to steal it, moving in on his patch of floor when he had gone to piss or shit. Both times he had managed to persuade the intruder away without a fight.

He remained sitting, his back to the wall, at one edge of the cage, for hours at a time. Shekel never had to go looking for him.

"Oy, Sack!"

Tanner was dozing, and the clouds in his head took a long time to part.

Shekel was grinning at him from beyond the bars. "Wake up, Tanner. I want to tell you about Salkrikaltor."

"Shut up, boy," grumbled a man beside Tanner. "We’re trying to sleep."

"Fuck off, Remade cunt," snapped Shekel. "D’you want any food next time I’m here, eh?"

Tanner was waving his hands in placation. "All right, lad, all right," he said, trying to wake up fully. "Tell me about whatever it is, but keep it down, eh?"

Shekel grinned. He was drunk and excited.

"Did you ever see Salkrikaltor City, Tanner?"

"No, lad. I ain’t never left New Crobuzon before," Tanner said softly. He kept his voice low, hoping that Shekel would imitate him.

The boy rolled his eyes and sat back. "You take a little boat, and you row past big buildings that come plumb out of the sea. Some places they’re close together like trees. And there’s massive bridges way above, and sometimes… sometimes you see someone-human or cray-just jump. And dive, if they’re a human, or tuck in all them legs otherwise, and land in the water and light out swimming, or disappear underneath.