them thoughtfully. 'Owen, get up off Jenny and come and meet an old friend.' Owen got up carefully. Jenny stayed where she was, breathing harshly. Hazel grinned. 'Owen, allow me to present an old confidant of mine. Ex-pirate, confidence trickster, lawyer, and occasional female impersonator when money gets short. Generally a good comrade to have with you, on either side of the law. Particularly if you're working a swindle. Best innocent-faced liar I ever knew.'
'Which is why I'm so good at my present job,' said Silver calmly. 'Takes one liar to spot another. And I know all the tricks, because I've used most of them in my time.'
'This is all very charming and picaresque,' said Random, 'but I have business to be about.'
'Oh sure,' said Silver. 'Hang around, and I'll get you a map and some guards.'
'No need. I know my way around Mistport. And I've never needed guarding.' He bowed politely to them all, even Jenny, then strode confidently off into the fog, his straight back radiating strength and purpose.
'Impressive,' said Silver. 'I just hope he doesn't get mugged and rolled. We'd never hear the end of it.'
'I have my own mission, too,' said Jenny Psycho icily. Everyone looked round sharply, as they realized she'd got to her feet without being noticed. If anything, she looked even more dangerous than she had before. 'I don't need a map or guards either. Just stay out of my way.'
She stalked off into the fog, and the mists rolled aside to get out of her path. They closed again after her, and she was quickly gone. Hazel shook her head slowly.
'You know, I could have sworn we were supposed to work as a team.'
'Don't let it bother you,' said Owen. 'Personally, I feel a lot safer with them gone. Neither of them would get my vote for mental health poster child of the year.'
'You're missing the point, as usual,' said Hazel. 'God knows how much damage Jenny Psycho will cause on her own, and I particularly wanted to stick close to Jack Random, in the hope of spotting something that would prove whether he's the real thing or not.'
'I thought you were sure he's a fake?'
'I am. But proof would be nice.'
'We could always go after him.'
'No we couldn't. Then he'd know for sure that we don't trust him.'
'I hate reasoning like that,' said Owen. 'You can argue all day and still end up running in circles. We could be wrong about him, you know.'
'Hold everything,' said Silver. 'Are you telling me there's a chance that wasn't the real Jack Random?'
'We're still deciding,' said Hazel. 'Let's just say we have doubts.'
'But he looks the part,' said Silver. 'Every inch a hero and a warrior.'
'Precisely,' said Owen. 'He's too perfect. Real life isn't like that.'
'Paranoia,' said Hazel, smiling. 'A game for the whole family, and anyone else who might be watching. Let's get out of the cold and find somewhere warm before my toes drop off.'
Owen glanced approvingly round Silver's private quarters as he sank into a deeply comfortable chair by an open fire. The ex-pirate Security chief lived in a fair amount of comfort, by Mistport standards. There were a number of high-tech appliances, including electric lighting, rare on a world where all forms of high tech had to be smuggled in past Empire blockades, at great cost to buyer and seller. Either head of port Security paid really well, or Silver hadn't entirely given up on his old piratical ways. Hazel sat opposite Owen, frowning into the dancing flames of the fire. She looked tired and drawn, and older than her years. Something was troubling her, but Owen had more sense than to ask what. She'd only bite his head off. She'd tell him when she was ready, or not at all.
Silver bustled about being the perfect host, making sure his guests were comfortable, chatting cheerfully about inconsequential things, and pressing large mugs of mulled wine on Hazel and Owen. Hazel just held hers, making no attempt to try it, so Owen took a gulp of his, just to be polite. Normally he couldn't stand mulled wine, but this proved to be easy on the palate and hotly spiced, leaving a pleasant warmth behind as it sank past his throat and chest and headed for his stomach. He nodded thankfully to Silver, who pulled up a chair facing his guests and looked at them inquiringly.
'Fill us in on what's been happening recently,' said Owen, when a long pause made it clear Hazel wasn't going to start the ball rolling. 'We weren't here long enough to ask questions on our last visit. What's this about a Typhoid Mary and an esper plague?'
'The Empire smuggled her in,' said Silver. 'She was an extremely powerful rogue esper, primed and conditioned to kill other espers. People fell dying and brain-burned all across the city, and where she passed children woke screaming from their dreams and would not be comforted. She destroyed a lot of good people before she was finally brought down. The Empire's plan had been to kill so many espers that the psionic screen which protects Mistworld would collapse, and the Imperial Fleet could move in at will. That didn't happen. But we came bloody close…'
'What happened after she was captured?' said Hazel, not looking up from the fire.
'We deconditioned her,' said Silver. 'It wasn't her fault. She'd been programmed by mind techs. She works for us now.'
'And you trust her?' said Owen. 'The Empire could have planted all kinds of control words in her subconscious. She wouldn't even know they were there till someone triggered them.'
'There were quite a few. We found them. This is an esper world, Deathstalker. The depths of the mind hold no secrets from us.'
'How much damage did she cause?' said Owen.
'Lots. We're still clearing up. Many people in important positions were either killed or brainburned, and for a long time there was chaos in the city as various factions fought for control. The worst of that is over, praise the good Lord, but there's still a lot of jockeying for position going on. Watch your backs while you're here. There's a lot of people who'd kill both of you just so that someone else couldn't have you.'
'So,' said Hazel, finally turning to look at Silver. 'You're doing all right for yourself then, John?'
'I'm doing fine,' said Silver, blinking slightly at the sudden change of subject.
'Better than fine. These quarters are a damn sight cosier than that rathole you used to hide out in down by the docks. No, I take that back, now I come to think of it, rats wouldn't have lived there for fear of catching something.'
'Head of port Security is a plum job,' said Silver easily. 'As long as I keep things nice and peaceful, no one looks too closely at how I do it. So, on the one hand, I crack down hard on the kind of people I used to be, and on the other, I salt away a little here and there, to supplement my pension. It's a hard life, but someone's got to do it.'
'Aren't you worried about Director Steel finding out?' said Owen, not sure whether he should be shocked or not. This was Mistport, after all.
'Him? He's a bigger crook than I am! No, the one I have to watch out for is Investigator Topaz. If she ever gets anything on me, I won't live to stand trial. In fact, if she ever even looks like getting close, it's me for the mountains on the first gravity sled I can beg, borrow, or steal. How someone that honest ever ended up on Mistworld is beyond me.'
'Law-abiding sort, is she?' said Hazel innocently.
Silver shuddered, and not from the cold. 'That woman is so straight she even distrusts her own shadow. Luckily, she's usually busy chasing bigger fish than me. Let me give you some idea of the kind of person we're discussing here. Did either of you happen to notice the hole in the back of her cloak?'
'Yeah,' said Owen. 'Disrupter burn. I take it she wasn't wearing the cloak at the time?'
'No. Her husband was. Someone shot him in the back, at point-blank range. She found the killer, and killed him slowly, but she still wears the cloak, and she never had the hole mended. What kind of person would do that?'
'Cold, obsessed, unswerving,' said Hazel. 'An Investigator in other words.'
'Let's change the subject,' said Silver. 'Before I start looking over my shoulder and jumping at sudden noises. Jack Random and that Psycho woman took off on their own missions. What are you here for? Or aren't you allowed to tell me?'
'It's no big deal,' said Hazel. 'I'm here to make contact with the Council on behalf of the Golgotha underground. It should have been someone else, but plans got changed at the last minute, and I was the only one who didn't run away fast enough, so I got volunteered. Owen's here to hunt down an old information-gathering
