A COLD icy rain descended on Machtarn on Tridi night, stopping sometime during the night. When Dekkard woke on Furdi, it seemed darker than normal, suggesting heavy clouds, but when he pulled back the curtains a touch and looked outside he discovered everything shrouded in fog.
Most likely the warmer air from the ocean.
He reached the kitchen just in time to encounter Emrelda leaving. “You’re going early because of the fog?”
“What else? It’ll be even thicker around the station, and I live closer than most of the patrollers.”
And you and your sister are the responsible types. But all Dekkard said was, “Just be careful.”
“What else?” replied Emrelda, with an amused smile.
Avraal, Gaaroll, and Dekkard didn’t gulp down breakfast, but did eat quickly, and left the house early.
While the drive to the Council Office Building was far slower, it was also a surety that no one would be able to shoot him from any distance. Certainly, neither Avraal nor Gaaroll sensed anything more than worried drivers of other steamers trying to navigate through the fog, a fog that thinned as they neared the Council buildings.
“There’s no reason for me to come in,” said Avraal. “Just pull up in front, and I’ll take the steamer. I’ll be back at fifth bell. If I’m late, I’ll meet you at the office.”
Dekkard did exactly what she suggested.
Once Avraal drove off in the Gresynt, Dekkard turned and walked toward the west doors of the building, Gaaroll beside him.
As they neared the west doors, Dekkard asked, “Any strong feelings?”
“No, sir. Just a muddle.”
“Good. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
The remainder of Furdi was uneventful, as was Quindi, although both days were long. Dekkard listened to more amendments to the pending appropriation legislation, and voted on all of them, usually in opposition, while learning about obscure problems. He dutifully read correspondence, and then signed or changed the replies, later signing the revisions.
Avraal followed Jaime Minz, who visited no councilors’ offices on either day, but did visit the Machtarn offices of Transoceanic Shipping, Kathaar Iron & Steel, Uldwyrk Systems, and Oostermein Products, a combination of corporacions that, at first glance, likely had minimal commercial connections with Northwest Industrial Chemical, since Uldwyrk Systems built steam turbines for naval ships and large passenger or commercial ships and since Oostermein manufactured a range of home health products including sweet oils, liniments, and several elixirs for tired blood and other tired organs. On reflection, Dekkard realized that Northwest Industrial Chemical likely supplied all four corporacions with some chemical formulation or another. Even so, Minz was in security, not sales, and that suggested some form of sharing of security-related information—or a deeper collusion.
Because Captain Narryt had spent the past two days at Security Ministry headquarters as part of the team working on the transition from the Ministry of Security to the Ministry of Public Safety, Emrelda had not been able to talk to him about the legalists representing the Special Agents who had attacked the house.
On Quindi evening, once again, the four attended services at the Hillside Trinitarian Chapel, where Presider Buusen gave a homily on the virtue of patience, a virtue Dekkard appreciated in the abstract, but found unhelpful in his present circumstances, even if there was little he or Avraal could do—not prudently, at least—without more information. Yet it seemed like that information was getting harder and harder to come by.
Dinner was quiet, and, shortly thereafter, well before the first bell of night, Avraal and Dekkard sat in the sitting room talking.
“A long, tiring, and not terribly eventful or productive week,” Dekkard said, finding himself yawning once, and then again.
“Sometimes, dear, uneventful is better.”
“I know that, but unproductive isn’t, not with Commercers like Minz wanting to remove me.”
“We don’t have a shred of real proof that it’s Minz.” Avraal yawned. “Now, you’ve got me doing it.”
“That’s because you worked harder this week.” Dekkard yawned again, and he realized he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
“Sitting here yawning isn’t going to help either of us,” said Avraal. “Sleep—and I mean sleep—might help us both.”
Dekkard found he was even too tired for a comeback. “I think you’re right.” He stood, then followed Avraal from the sitting room.