Page 78 of A Drop of Corruption

“The only people whodidknow this Pyktis are still inside the Shroud. Is that correct?”

“I…I think a few of his colleagues are still there, yes.”

“And…these colleagues are also augurs,” said Ana, “which means they, too, possess hypersensitive abilities of prediction and analysis?”

“Yes?”

“Ones that would beenormouslyuseful if they were put to the task of analyzing Pyktis?”

“Well. Ye—”

“Then would it be possible for Din here togoto the Shroud,” asked Ana, “and simply chat up these augurs of yours to figure out this man’s nature?”

Everyone stared at Ana in utter alarm—but none more than I.

Panic rushed into my belly, and up my throat. The idea of traveling to the Shroud—the most dangerous place in the Empire after the sea walls themselves—filled me with horror.

“Ah…” I said quietly. “Well, ah, wait, ma’am, I…”

“That is not possible,” said Ghrelin.

“The Shroud is a clean site,” said Thelenai firmly. “Visitors aretremendouslyrestricted.”

I nearly sighed aloud with relief.

“Can we not get Din here clean?” said Ana. “That can’t be so hard, your colleagues just basted him in oil like a fucking pheasant!”

“But it is even more complex than that,” said Ghrelin. “The Shroud is abiological envelope.It is perhaps even more reactive than the Plains of the Path! Penetrating it is a dangerous procedure. We do so only on regulated schedules!”

“Then when is the next penetration?” demanded Ana.

“Well…I believe the next restocking ship shall leave in twenty days…” admitted Ghrelin reluctantly.

“That’s far longer than I’d like,” growled Ana. “So long that the idea is nigh useless…yet this bastard is a clever one. It may take just that long to catch him!”

I squirmed in my seat. “Ma’am…are we really sure it’s a good idea to…to send me to theShroud?”

“No, Din,” said Ana. “I think it is averygood idea to send you to the Shroud! These marvelous bastards apparently see much, and know much—and they’re the only people who’ve known this man. They would be an invaluable resource in hunting him!”

“Yet it isnotas easy as you think!” said Thelenai. “As we just said, the officers you would send him to interview do not communicate like normal folk anymore. They tap far more than they talk.”

“But we have a translator, don’t we?” Ana’s blindfolded face swiveled to Ghrelin. “Correct, Immunis? Are youstillan augur? For I notice you tap as well.”

Ghrelin blanched. “I…I was an augur, during my time within the veil,” he admitted. “I often go with the restocking shipments tostudy the axioms inside. And I must consume augury, very slightly, in order to communicate with them, and to study their works and reports—for they do not make sense to the normal mind. I could translate, yes.”

“Good!” said Ana cheerily. “Then this all sounds agreeable to me.”

“I…I will consent to this,” said Thelenai reluctantly, “butonlyas a last resort. It takes tremendous preparation for a person to pass within the Shroud. We should tryeverythingelse, and only then send in the young signum along with the shipment in twenty days.”

“If it takes twenty fucking days to catch this man,” said Ana, “then I suspect I’ll be resorting to all kinds of preposterously stupid things.”

Thelenai nodded gravely. “Then you have my approval.”

I looked away. My mouth felt hot and thick, and I felt the unpleasant rumble of vomit at the back of my throat.

That was it, then. I was doomed. We’d have to catch Pyktis in twenty days, or I’d catch some vile blot of contagion while within that unholy veil and be transmuted into something unspeakable. My family would go bankrupt, and all the grand machinations and systems of the Empire would spin on, and I would be ground to dust, and go forgotten.

Thelenai spoke on, ignorant or indifferent to my distress: “Before those twenty days elapse, Dolabra…what tactics shall you now pursue to catch this man?”