The first contact man had told them they would be met at the dockside and, once again, Skull-Face's organisation delivered the goods. A sealed carriage-box was sent aboard for 'Yoko Mi-Shims' and, after they had been shackled, two Korean clerks steered the 'Mutes' through the various layers of officialdom and out of the dock gates.

Steve and the others had no idea who anyone was or what they were saying until they met up with Cadillac later. It then transpired that the clerks were employed by.

a rich slave-dealer, none other than the man whose name Side-Winder had given Steve during their chance meeting on the dockside at All-bani.

It was yet further proof of the mexican's tie-in with the j.a.ps. Just how far did this deal between the Federation and the Iron Masters go?

Chivvied along by flicks from the clerk's whipping-canes, Steve, Jodi, Kelso and Clearwater followed the carriage-box through the bustling streets to the slave-dealer's imposing residence. Only Cadillac was invited to go in through the front door; the others were shunted into a stockade at the rear and locked in a pen.

It was one of several, housing varying numbers of Mutes. Raised off the ground, under a lean-to roof, was a slatted wooden floor covered with a thin layer of filthy straw. There was a bucket of water to drink or wash with - a.s.suming anyone wanted to - and another bucket to c.r.a.p in. A big step down from the plush accommodation units Steve had discovered in Santanna Deep.

From the bawdy exchanges Cadillac had overheard whilst being carried out of the docks it appeared that his services - or rather those of the masked lady in the box had also been acquired by the slave-master.

Amid the laughter and muttered asides, a garrulous tongue revealed that the gentleman in question was a social-climber who had spared no expense to acquire a well-connected, high-cla.s.s 'entertainer'.

To Cadillac's relief, his new owner did not make any attempt during the night to get value for money. The next morning, when he was congratulating himself on his good fortune at being comfortably housed while the others were freezing their b.u.t.ts off out in the yard, his pampered, perfumed existence came to an abrupt end.

One of the Korean clerks who had greeted 'Yoko Mi-Shima' on the dockside entered the bedchamber and ordered the Mute to pick up the canvas tote-bag that had travelled with him. The clerk then opened a concealed door and ushered Cadillac down a narrow, enclosed staircase into a cellar illuminated by several lanterns.

Clearwater was waiting for him. The clerk told Cadillac to remove his mask, wig and clothes. When he had done so, the clerk took everything back upstairs.

Clearwater knelt down and searched through the contents of the bag.

Cadillac knelt down obediently beside her as she produced one of the sets of body-paints. 'Will there be enough?"

'Yes." Using her fingertips, she began to draw the familiar lines on his back and fill in the areas with the different coloured pigments.

It was something they had done for each other since she had been chosen by the council of clan elders to be his soul-mate. Reverting to his true colours was the final step in accepting that his destiny lay with the Plainfolk.

Clearwater sang softly to herself as she worked the waterproof dye into Cadillac's skin. It was one of the M'Call fire-songs they both knew well. 'Are you sad?"

'No. What has happened is the will of Talisman."

Cadillac sighed. 'It is our present situation that concerns me."

'Do you fear something will happen to prevent our escape?"

Cadillac shrugged. 'If we are meant to, we will. What worries me is that Brickman is no longer alone. Why are these Iron Masters helping him? He tells me nothing. Has he spoken to you?"

How strange, thought Clearwater. As the dyes cover more and more of his body, he speaks less and less with the voice of the cloud warrior.

'He says we must trust him."

Cadillac gave a bitter laugh. 'What else - apart from the truth could he say?"

'You have read his mind."

'Yes. But not his thoughts. You are closer to him than I will ever be. You can read his heart and see into his soul."

'Sometimes..."

'And what do you see?"

Clearwater moved round on her knees and began to colour his face.

'Love. Death. Betrayal. A new beginning..."

'Are you to be taken from me?"

She traced a gentle line down his cheekbone and on to his neck. 'I cannot tell. It is you who read the stones. But whatever happens, part of me will always remain with you."

'But you won't."

Clearwater took hold of his chin. 'If you are to be the sword of Talisman, your strength must not come from me but from within yourself." She pressed a finger against his heart.

Easier said than done, thought Cadillac. Oh, Sweet Mother! Why did life have to be so hard, and full of pain?

Dressed and tagged as a Mute, Cadillac was taken back with Clearwater to join the others in the stockade. It was his first experience of life in Ne-Issan as a gra.s.s-monkey: The place stank with the odour of unemptied s...o...b..ckets, and what little food there was was tasteless and unappetising. Worst of all, there was no sake.

Later in the day, Side-Winder appeared outside the stockade. Steve walked across and spoke to him through one of the gaps in the vertical planking. 'How come they let you off the boat?"

'Another breakdown. Everybody got sh.o.r.e-leave except the engineers."

'You come to say goodbye?"

'No. I'm coming with you." The mexican's hard mouth split open in a happy grin. 'How about that!'

Steve smiled back. 'You're going to miss those lumps." * 'You kidding? Can't wait!" 'I can believe it. Listen. As you're here, and since you'll be travelling back with us, there's something I've been dying to ask you."

'Oh, yeah, what's that?"

'Well, I can't help noticing you've got a lot of slant-eyed friends.

How about filling me in on that?"

Side-Winder's sunny smile turned into a sly grin. 'No can do, amigo.

Try asking Mother when you get back to Rio Lobo."

'Do you think he'll tell me?" The idea of Karlstrom spilling the beans on anything seemed an unlikely prospect.

'Can't say..."

'But you are going to tell me how we're getting out of here."

'Yeah. We leave tonight on a fishing-smack, then we transfer on to a couple of power inflatables and cross over to a place called Long Point on the other side of Lake Erie."

'Is Mother going to hook us up?"