'Yes, Kristabel said, appearing directly in front of Edeard as her father made his way up the steps at the back of the platform. 'Thank you indeed.

He didn't quite know what to say, so settled for a modest shrug. She was still in her flimsy white cotton nightdress, though a grey-green woollen shawl was wrapped round her shoulders. Her hair wasn't quite so wild now. The squad edged closer.

'You kept your word, she said.

'Er yes. Actually, it was a pretty stupid thing to—

Her finger touched his lips. 'No. It was the greatest thing you could possibly do. No wonder the gangs and Masters are so frightened of you. I have faith in you, Waterwalker.

'Mistress. He made a real hash of a formal bow, producing something more like a nervous twitch. Kristabel all serene like this was quite impressive. Imposing, actually.

'Ah yes, Mistress, she said teasingly. 'Well, as future Mistress of Haxpen, I shall require the first dance with you at our family party tonight. And the last. And, I think, every one between.

'Oh. Edeard paled. He was a rotten dancer. 'My pleasure.

Kristabel's smile widened to include all the squad. 'Please today my house is yours. And every day to come. The view from the upper hortus is the best in the city from which to watch the flower boats on their way to the sea. And you must bathe and freshen up. I'll see that the staff find some clothes that fit, ready for the party.

Edeard watched her start up the wooden stairs to the fabulous ziggurat mansion towering above them. The hem of her nightdress flapped around her knees. I must not look at her legs. I must not.

Kanseen's head slipped sinuously over his left shoulder. 'You do know, don't you, she said quietly, 'that you can't actually sleep with every girl in this city?

Edeard looked at Kristabel's legs. Slim, yes; but rather shapely, too. 'I know, he said wistfully.

Kanseen kissed his ear playfully. 'But you could do a lot worse than Kristabel.

The night was as black as only Hanko's thick curtains of stormcloud could make it. Wind howled around the ice boulders, creating strange antagonistic harmonics. While overhead occasional forks of lightning turned the tragic landscape into a monochrome silhouette.

Right at the edge of the Asiatic glacier a flare of tangerine light burst into existence, creating an eerie aural blaze around the top of the titanic cliff. It vanished in an instant. The ice trembled in reaction. After a while, the spray of tangerine light gushed up again. Brighter this time. Larger ice fragments jumped and juddered at the vibrations hammering through the surface.

A pause filled by the eternal yowl of the blizzard.

The light appeared once more. This time splinters of ice erupted from the top of the cliff, swirling away into the mile high abyss. A hand wearing a thick grey gauntlet crept up and patted the surface, scrabbling for a firm purchase.

Aaron heaved himself up, and rolled on to the top of tin-glacier. After a moment he clambered to his feet. He swept tin-surrounding area with his biononic field scan function, seeking traces of the ground crawler. The trail it had taken was plain enough, retracing its original route through the boulder field.

He started to run after it.

He was very VERY angry.

The Clippsby cafe on Daryad Avenue served exactly the kind of breakfast Oscar loved. Industrial strength coffee, bacon baguettes, and almond croissants with a dip pot of agal syrup. Despite the three of them wearing the Ellezelin police uniform the owner served them readily enough. The only other customers were also Ellezelin troopers grabbing a late breakfast between alerts. This morning should have been so different. Everyone in the city had stayed up, accessing Justine's heroic dash for the Void. Unisphere and gaiafield alike were enraptured by the appearance of the Second Dreamer, rumour and speculation were currently the foremost indulgence of billions. Yet here in Colwyn the atmosphere of wonder had been ripped to pieces by the welcome team's raid. There had been a lot of people in the park outside the apartment block. They'd reacted predictably enough to such a brash act, taunting the paramilitary troops on the cordon. It was touch and go if a full riot would erupt. As a result, the city seemed even more paralysed than yesterday. Very few citizens were going in to work. They were either too fearful of getting caught up in disturbances; or they were heading out to join the crowd in Bodant and other hot spots where they might get lucky and give some hapless foreign trooper a good kicking. Either way, not much was open in the centre of town.

Oscar accepted another refill from the waitress, smiling in gratitude. The cafe owner might have cajoled her to serve him, but she certainly didn't have to smile back as she was pouring. 'So what now? he asked Tomansio as the woman stomped off and the privacy shield shimmered on around their table.

'Information is the key, as always, Tomansio replied, trying not to frown at the food piled up in front of Oscar. For himself he'd ordered a smoked gruslet and cream cheese sandwich to go with his green tea. 'We know without any doubt that the Second Dreamer was in that apartment block. Which means either the welcome team have him, and major Honilar will find that out for sure in the next six hours, or he escaped before we got there.

'We were there fast, Beckia said. 'I don't think I could have got out, not without a lot of fuss.

'This man is smart, Tomansio said. 'Using Danal's apartment was a superb misdirection.

'But how could he have got out? Oscar asked. 'They would have seen any capsule lifting from the apartments.

'Stealth? Beckia suggested. She wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction. 'But if he's got a stealth capsule why would he actually commune with the gaiafield from Danal's apartment? That doesn't make any sense.

'The only practical escape route would be some kind of tunnel not on the city plans, Tomansio said. 'And the apartments are being refurbished by a whole load of different developers. That would give him plenty of scope for such an activity.

'That presupposes he knew he'd need an escape tunnel, Oscar said. 'How would he know Ethan was going to annex the whole planet and flood the city with paramilitaries?

'Connections in Living Dream, Beckia said with a baffled tone. She shook her head. 'That doesn't make any sense either. If you have those kind of connections, why go on the lam like this?

'You don't suppose this is Inigo, do you? Oscar suggested.

Tomansio pulled a breath through clenched teeth. 'I'd hate to rule it out, but this simply isn't Inigo's way of doing things. Hi' doesn't need to sneak around. For a start, his word alone is the only thing which could stop Ethan's insane Pilgrimage.

'Not so insane, Beckia muttered. 'And not so easily stopped. Not any more. The whole of the Greater Commonwealth just watched Justine's ship go through the barrier. The Second Dreamer can get the Pilgrimage inside. That's a phenomenal boost to Living Dream's credibility.

'It also secures Ethan's leadership, Tomansio said. 'Even if Inigo did turn up now, he might not have the authority to pull it off.

'Wouldn't be the first time a religion outgrows its messiah, Oscar said.

'No indeed. So… we're left with the same problem everyone else has: finding this extremely slippery Second Dreamer.

'I don't believe in secret tunnels, Oscar said. He drank some of his coffee, enjoying the bitter liquid burning its way down his throat. It had been a long time since he'd got some sleep. 'There's something about this which isn't right.

'Care to elaborate?

'I can't, unfortunately. I'm just not convinced that the Second Dreamer is some kind of supersmart covert operative. Living Dream had to out him in the first place, now he's communing with a Skylord, which is something Inigo never managed. That doesn't come over as someone who's thought out the consequences of their actions.