Parquit did not make Commander by hesitating in awkward situations. "All right. I grant your sanctuary."

"Swear by your Shell and The-Sand-That-Shelters-Life."

Parquit made the AAnn equivalent of a smile. Naturally he did not bare his teeth. "You are a knowledgeable rogue, soulless Lord." The Commander lowered his voice, rumbled through the archaic hisses and croaks of the ancient oath.

"There. Are you satisfied?"

"You forgot the sealing of the membrane and the last three wind atonings."

"A simple test, man. Compliments." This time Par. quit did it properly. It was impressive.

Rose nodded when the AAnn had finished. He turned, set the case down on the floor. Arris winced involuntarily when the man took his hand from the handle. Rose turned back to face them.

"You were bluffing, of course," said Parquit.

"Don't let the either-or keep you awake nights, Commander." Rose looked around, helped himself to an awkwardly shaped chair.

"I might say that any being who deals in bloodhype is a living scab to all AAnn as well as to your own race."

"Insults are a sad way to begin a long relationship, Commander. Besides, I've heard them all already."

Chatham Kingsley's island-home, Wetplace, reflected wealth-new wealth, as opposed to traditional inherited types. Kingsley could have built an old-Terra type baronial mansion (they were currently in style). But he eschewed the false reproduction and opted instead for the maximum in modern convenience. This left a good portion of the island's interior for a wilderness garden. Most of the necessary business edifices, such as warehousing, were built offshore on a complex of struts, pylons, and floating platforms.

The central residence consisted of a single tower, which rose some 50 meters into the air while plunging an equal distance into sea and bedrock, on the side where the island fell off steeply into the shallow sea.

The island thus remained almost entirely in a virgin state. The natural profusion of greenery was encouraged by judicious additions of organic fertilizers, powerful plant foods, and professional verdurement. Thick cycads, ferns, sporophytes and horsetails grew to the waterline, dipping graceful fronds into the slightly salty tideflow. In some places they even mingled with the sea-plants which grew sunwards from the seabottom, forming an unbroken wall of green against which water lapped viscously.

The Tower itself was constructed of parallel vertical bands of a coppery bronze alloy and panes of opaque black glass.

Takaharu guided the raft among the few small commercial craft which plied the artificial harbor. They beaded towards a single long, floating dock. An anchored walkway led towards the Tower.

Mal glanced at the console. "All right, Maijib. You can acknowledge their calls now." Since Kingsley was overtly legitimate, they could expect to approach his property closely without fearing the gift of a missile or mine. But now at least a cursory greeting was in order.

The first mate flipped on the comm. Immediately a harried voice filled the cabin. It was also officious and slightly bellicose.

"... a private residence! Identify yourselves, please! This area is defined as ..."

Hammurabi leaned over the mike for the second time in two days. "Malcolm Hammurabi, Captain-owner of the free freighter Umbra, and First Mate, along with Lieutenants United Church Kitten Kai-sung and Porsupah, and engineer Philip ... Philip ..." Mal glanced back at the lanky youngster. In all this time he hadn't thought to ask the fellow's last name.

"Lynx," the engineer replied.

. Philip Lynx to see merchant-trader Chatham Kingsley, and is the old S.O.B. at home or not?"

"I beg your modification, Captain! I might inform you that...

"Never mind, Hulen," a cultured, even voice broke in.

"Yes sir," the unlucky Hulen replied. He sounded subdued. The voice returned.

"Is that you, Hammurabi? This is the old S.O.B. himself. What brings you down from orbit? I thought you hated anything over half a gee. Your credit, in full, has already been transceived to your ship's account on Terra. I'd have thought you'd have checked on that long ago."

"I did. That's not why I'm here."

"Well, then?"

"I'm peeved, Kingsley, peeved."

"And presumably I'm the one who's peeved you, eh? All right, come on up. Or down, rather. And bring your friends with you. We'll see if we can't unpeeve you."

Firm as ,its footing in the slopingPecces was, the wide delivery-way shifted slightly under their feet with the action of the tide. A human butler met them at the entrance to the black and gold structure.

"The master awaits you in the viewing room, sirs and lady. The sixteenth level." The elegantly appointed servant directed them to a room-sized elevator. It was more than,. large enough to hold them all comfortably. Kitten depressed the stud marked 16 and the lift started to move.

"Feels like we're moving downwards," said Porsupah.

"I sense so too," Philip added.

"The building is half below sea level," Mal informed them. "I've never been here myself, but I'm acquainted with the schematics for storage reasons." He indicated the lights over the front door. Number 18 had just winked out and 17 on.

"We entered at midpoint-about the 20th floor." The door slid back silently. He stepped out into an enormous, unfamiliar room. It had a concave ceiling and was crescent shaped. The elevator shaft formed its apex.

The far wall was entirely glass. It revealed a breathtaking panorama of the sea floor that disappeared in a turquoise haze. Fish and sea mammals swam lazily back and forth in front of the glass, catching the sunlight which filtered down through the clear water. Some clustered around feeding platforms. A number differed sufficiently from the familiar vertebrates to be classed as eye-catching, if not exotic.

No, it was the room's decor that deserved the latter label. There was no individual furniture. Seats, fables and chairs were formed by rises and depressions in the floor of the room. The entire compartment was covered in a rich, reddish-brown fur. Artificial, but still exorbitantly expensive. The hairs tan as long as five centimeters. The lining-it couldn't be called a carpet-covered every space: floor, ceiling, walls, everything but that single panoramic window. Like the skin of some misshapen behemoth turned inside out. They were in the belly of a dream.

"Fascinating concept," Kitten whispered. "Kind of like being inside a marsupial's pouch."

"A fine analogy, Miss Kai-sung," boomed a voice from near the window.

Chatham Kingsley reclined on a low, fur-covered platform. He was shorter than any of them, with the exception, of course, of Porsupah. A good three centimeters shorter than Mal or Kitten. He affected a blond crewcut, a short, thick brush mustache, and a gold and topaz ring in one ear. Angular cheekbones, a pointed chin, Roman nose, and falsely innocent china-blue eyes completed the face. A curious mixture of putty and flint. The mind behind the baby-eyes was at least that hard-a fact which Kingsley's ever-polite chatter strove to obscure.

"Well Malcolm, you arrived in time for lunch, anyway. Sit yourselves down, all of you. I've instructed the cook appropriately."

"I'm afraid, Chatham, that there are a few things that ate more important than-"

"Hold on," said Kitten. "Porsupah and I haven't had anything but a few scraggly canapes and fish sandwiches in the past 36 hours. At the moment;nothing is more important than lunch."

"I myself have no intention," added Porsupah, his eyes glued to the subterranean scene, "of staring at all those delightful and no doubt edible swimmers without taking a bite of something. Your obviously well-nourished bulk not excepted, Captain."

"So we accept your invitation," finished Kitten firmly. She stared challengingly at Mal, who sighed deeply and chose not to fight back.

"Marvelous! Bless you, my dear. Miss Kai-sung, wasn't it?"

"Call me Kitten"

"And you must call me Chatham, yes. Are you and your friend- Porsupah is a Tolian calling, I believe-are you really. -ranked officers in the Church forces? I've riot seen you around. city before."

"Really and truly we are, Chatham. We're only temporarily attached to the Rectory in Repler City."