'Whose place was this?'
'Be someone called Eisenhom.'
'How many men were hired?'
'All of us. The entire clan.'
And how many men is that?'
'Eight hundred.'
I paused. Eight hundred?
'All for this job on Gudrun?'
'No. Be seventy of us for that. The rest for other jobs.'
What other jobs?'
'Wasn't told. Gah… my head aches/
Crezia touched my sleeve. 'You must stop/ she whispered. 'He's beginning to hyperventilate/
'Just a few more questions/1 hissed back.
I looked at Tarl. He was sweating and rocking slightly in his seat as his breaths came quick and fast.
'Where did you stage before the raid?'
'Nnh… Piterro/ A small island in the Bay of Bisheen. Interesting.
'What was the name of the ship that brought you here?'
The Beltrand!
What was the name of your client?'
'Dunno/
'Did you ever meet him?'
'No/
'Did you ever meet any of his agents?'
Yeah… uhhnn! It hurts!'
'Gregor!'
'Not yet! Tarl, who was the agent?'
Woman. Psyker. She came to emplate us the night before the raid/
'She personally fixed your identity veils?'
Yes/
'What was her name?'
'Call herself Maria. Maria Tarray/
'Picture her in your mind, Tarl/ I ordered. I got a brief but vivid flash of a sharp featured woman with long, straight black hair. Her eyes were what I remembered most. Kohl-edged, large and green like jade. She seemed to look into my head. I snatched back.
'Are you all right?' Crezia asked.
Yes, I'm fine/
We're going to stop now/ she told me straight. 'Right now/
'Right now?'
That's what I said/
The janissary had sunk back on the bed, his skin puffy and damp. He closed his eyes and moaned.
'He's coming down. Now he's feeling the disruptions of your mind probe/ I could see she was shaking slightly. She'd felt them too, second hand.
'One last question/
'I said we were stopping now and I meant it. I have to stabilise him/
I held up my hand. 'One more. While he's still open. We come back later or tomorrow and he'll have closed up. And you don't want to do this again, do you?'
'No/ she relented.
Tarl? Tarl?'
'Go 'way/
What was the name of your client? What was the name of Maria Tarray's boss?'
The Vessorine murmured something.
What was that?' whispered Crezia. 'I didn't catch it/
I had. Not verbally, but in my mind. Something blocked out, something he hadn't been able to say even before if he'd wanted to. As he collapsed into psi-fugue, the last shreds of his emplated veil melted away and the final name tumbled out.
'He said Khanjar/ I told her. 'Khanjar the Sharp/
ELEVEJM
Adept Cielo.
Death notices.
Dangerous kindness.
Iwoke before dawn. it was still twilight outside, and the curtains of my room swayed in the cold breeze.