Word went out from Spider Geroan’s place, atop one of the older buildings in Splash One, that the spider was tugging on his web. The strings of that web, highly placed and low, twitched themselves nervously wondering if anything they had caught would be of interest to the spider. Though sometimes it was better to have nothing interesting at all than to have only part of something that Spider Geroan badly wanted.
One of Geroan’s webs shivered almost immediately.
‘It’s Price Zimble, Spider, Sir. Word is you want reports. I have nothing new of use, honored one.’
‘Surely you’ve talked to the Explorer knight since her return, services man.’
‘Only briefly, honored Geroan. She hasn’t sent for me since she got back.’
A long pause for thought. ‘You couldn’t possibly have said or done anything before she left that would have given her a clue we’d been talking about her, could you, Zimmy?’
‘Never, honored Geroan. Of course not. It wasn’t me that tipped her, if anything tipped her. It was something that happened in Splash One.’
‘Funny thing,’ murmured the Spider.
‘What’s that, honored Geroan?’
‘Some of my people went up to Redfang, Zimmy. Looking for the Explorer knight up there. Found her, too, just like you arranged for our friend Justin. Of course, you hadn’t arranged anything for Justin until you’d checked with me first, had you? Because the Spider’s webs only work for the Spider, don’t they? They don’t play the outside against the middle do they, Zimmy? Right?’
‘Right, Spider, Sir. I didn’t do a thing until you gave me the start, Sir. Then I did the orders Justin wanted. They were perfect, just perfect. Looked official, they did, Sir.’ Zimmy sounded more nervous than usual while talking to Geroan.
‘Funny thing.’
Silence.
‘My people found some other people up there, too. Some other people looking for the Explorer knight. Some other people who knew right where to look.’
‘She … she must’ve told someone she was going. She….’
‘Oh, I don’t think the Explorer told them,’ said the Spider. Funny thing. Isn’t it?’
Geroan disconnected without saying goodbye. Donatella Furz had evaded his assassin in Splash One. Had that attempt failed, perhaps, because Zimmy had said something to alert her? And had Zimmy sold information to Honeypeach Thonks? Information that was supposed to belong exclusively to Geroan? Perhaps Zimmy had outlived his usefulness.
But then again … Zimmy was a very good web into the Northwest Priory. A very good web to Chase Random Hall. Not a bad bit of web, everything considered. Perhaps he merely needed a bit of discipline. Spider Geroan found a bit of discipline often did wonders. He considered this for a time, deciding what kind and amount of discipline might be most effective, until his next web called to report.
This was a gemstone broker who worked in the vicinity of the fish market, who wanted to report a young man who had sold a firestone earclip.
‘Orange stones, nothing very special, but nice. Gave the kid a hundred twenty for the clip. I’ve got some gems almost like it. Close enough to make up another clip. I’ll get five hundred for the two, easy.’
‘Kid?’ queried Geroan patiently. ‘What kid?’
‘Tripsinger kid. A what-you-call-’em, acolyte. One of the young ones that doesn’t do trips by himself yet, you know.’ He went on to describe Jamieson in some detail.
‘From where?’
‘Didn’t say. He did say he wanted the money for passage to Deepsoil Five though. For a woman and a baby. Just chattin,’ you know the way they do, when they’re tryin’ to sell somethin’.’
‘What woman? What baby?’
The broker stuttered, ‘I c-c-could try to find out, honored Geroan. Could try. Don’t know much where to start, though.’
‘The acolyte came to you, why?’
The broker muttered again. ‘I d-d-dunno.’
‘Because he saw your place, stone-skull. That means he was nearby, in the area.’
‘M-m-maybe just havin’ some lunch. Lots of people come down to the market for the fish. You know.’
‘Maybe for fish. But maybe looking for someone. Maybe found someone. Start by asking if there was a Tripsinger around your place looking for a woman and a baby.’
Another of Geroan’s webs was a cleaning woman in the citadel at Splash One. She came in person, desperately full of bits and pieces, hoping something would satisfy the Spider.
‘The Tripsinger from Deepsoil Five had two sets of robes with him, and so did each of the two acolytes, Spider, Sir. Underwear, tunics, socks, boots, and spare boots. Worn, too. Like they’d been living on the country for some time. Skinny mules. Like they get when they set settler’s brush for a long while. The machines of the acolytes had Deepsoil Five labels. His machine did, too, butthat’s a funny thing, he had two of them.’
‘Two of what?’
‘Two machines. Music machines, like they carry to make the Tripsongs. He had two. One like the ones the kids had – like all the regular Tripsinger boxes, with the citadel label on it and the warning against unauthorized use, you know – and a different one. I looked it over, but it didn’t have any label on it.’
‘Describe it,’ asked Geroan, his interest piqued. This fit in nicely with Justin’s suspicions.
‘It was greenish instead of gray. It had two handles on the sides instead of one on top. The keys and dials and things opened up on a fold-down panel, three folds. The regular ones just have two and they fold up, not down. And the speakers fold out on top, not on the sides, like the regular ones do.’
‘Nothing else? No words, trademarks, maker’s tags?’
She shook her head.
‘And they went where?’
‘Northwest City. The acolyte, the boy, he found a truck that was going there. I was cleaning the hall and heard him say so.’
Geroan nodded his thanks, and the woman left, relieved. She expected no payment and rejoiced merely to be let alone for a time by Spider Geroan.
After that, Geroan simply sat, hands folded on his belly, thumbs moving in endless circles around one another as he
