"Want to know your fortune?" a voice close to Kellan asked, and she turned to see a woman sitting behind a card table set up in front of a coffee shop. An antique-looking black shawl covered the table and a spread of tarot cards was laid out on top of the lacy silk. The woman was an elf, wearing a close-fitting T-shirt under a cloak pinned at the shoulder with a circular broach in a Celtic knot design. Her loose-fitting jeans were painted with mystical symbols and designs. Her hair was sandy colored and worn long, cascading in waves down her shoulders; and of course she was gorgeous, with intense blue eyes that seemed to look right into Kellan's soul.

"The cards know all," she said grandly, with a sweeping gesture over the table. "Just twenty nuyen for the secret insights from the elven Tree of Life."

"How's about telling my fortune, Liada?" G-Dogg said, and the woman smiled up at him.

"I don't give out freebies, G," she replied. In reply the ork pulled a crumpled UCAS twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and tossed it in the upturned top hat at Liada's feet.

"Okay," she shrugged. "Let's see what the cards have to say." She shuffled the deck with crisp, practiced motions before dividing them into three piles in front of her. Then she closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a slow sigh.

"Past, present and future," she said, tapping each of the stacks of cards in turn. She flipped over the top card on the first stack. It was the four of pentacles, showing masons working on a half-finished tower or castle with stained-glass windows.

"Hard work, laying the foundations for material success," the woman said. "Hustling to get things done," she glanced sidelong at G-Dogg with a slight smile, then flipped over the top card on the next stack.

It was the king of wands. "A dark man," she continued, "strong-willed, intellectual:." She paused and looked up at G-Dogg again, her mouth pinched in a thin line. Then she turned over the top card on the final stack.

The princess of wands, wielding a burning torch that illuminated the darkness. "A young woman," she said, "with a passionate nature, showing the right path." She glanced up at Kellan, and then back at G-Dogg, leaning back from the table with a sigh.

"What does Lothan want?" she asked, picking up the cards and putting them back into the deck. She squared them by tapping the deck against the table before putting the cards into a small embroidered leather pouch.

"We're setting up a meeting:." G-Dogg began.

"Not interested," Liada replied with a wave of her hand.

"You making that much money telling fortunes?" G-Dogg replied.

"It's not bad," she said, somewhat defensively, "but it has nothing to do with that. I just don't feel like working with the Almighty Master of the Arts Arcane." She did a deliberately bad imitation of Lothan's lofty tone, waving one hand in the air in a grand gesture.

"It's a simple job," G-Dogg said.

"It's never that simple with Lothan. You know that."

"Yeah, well, I also know that you were his first choice for magical backup on this job."

"Backup," Liada repeated. "Which means playing second fiddle to the Master. No thanks."

"Okay," G-Dogg shrugged. "I'll just tell him you weren't up for it."

The elf raised one eyebrow and glared at the smiling ork. Then she slipped the tarot deck case into the voluminous shoulder bag sitting on the ground next to her.

"When's the meeting?" she asked.

"At Lothan's, 2000 hours."

"I'll be there," she said. "I'll listen to what he has to say, but no promises. If I don't like what I hear, I'm telling Lothan where he can stick his job and I'm out of there."

"Fair enough," G-Dogg said.

"You in on this?" Liada said, turning to Kellan.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Watch out for this one," she said nodding her head toward G-Dogg, "and Lothan. The one thing they have in common is that they're both manipulative bastards." G-Dogg grinned, but didn't deny it.

"I'm Liada," she extended a hand to Kellan who shook it.

"Kellan."

"New to Seattle?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, nice to meet you."

"She's Lothan's new apprentice," G-Dogg offered, which caused Liada to raise both eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" she said. "Well, my condolences. Here's hoping you survive the experience." She turned to G-Dogg, rising from behind the table. "Tell his highness that I'll be there tonight."

They still had some time before the meet after leaving Liada, so G-Dogg suggested getting something to eat. Kellan's stomach reminded her that she hadn't had anything except most of a breakfast burrito all day, so she agreed. Ensconced in a back booth at A Little Bit O' Saigon in Capitol Hill, she and the ork talked a bit.

"Why all that work just to get in touch with people?" Kellan asked. "Seems like Lothan could have handled that biz with three phone calls."

G-Dogg began ticking things off on his fingers and, for the first time, Kellan noticed that the ork had six fingers on each hand. She remembered hearing something about an extra finger being a "secondary mutation." Only a minor percentage of orks had the extra finger. It certainly was a lot less inconvenient than some other mutations that had sprung up after the Awakening.

"Well, first," he said, "Lothan doesn't like to handle stuff like that and, as you might guess, he's not all that good at it. Me, I like to talk, and I like to do my biz face-to-face.

"Second, you gotta be careful doing business over the phone. You never know who might be listening. Job like this, probably not a big deal, but there're deckers who make a living putting together random pieces of data off the Matrix, making connections and passing them on to the right people willing to pay for them. There's always a chance that somebody is going to hear when there's a run going down. You try to keep that as quiet as possible. Plus, it's easier to get a feel for what people are thinking when you're looking at them instead of talking to them on the phone."

"There a third?" Kellan asked.

"Yup. Third is I wanted you to get a chance to meet everyone and learn a little about how the biz works here in Seattle."

"Doesn't seem like Lothan is anybody's favorite guy," Kellan mused, changing the subject. She appreciated the ork's consideration, but she didn't want to dwell on the fact that she needed to be introduced around like a complete newbie.

"Lothan can have a pretty high opinion of himself," G-Dogg said, "but let me tell you, he knows the biz like nobody else. Lothan has been running the shadows longer than anybody I know. He may not be Mr. Personality, but he knows what he's doing, and that's what really counts in this business. That's why people still work with him, even if he can be a real pain in the hoop sometimes."

"Is that why you work with him?" she asked.

"One of the reasons," G-Dogg said. "Let's just say that I owe Lothan and leave it at that, okay? He's helped me out, so I help him out."

As soon as they finished eating, they headed back to Lothan's place, where they were the first to arrive for the meeting. The old troll was all business, and wanted to wait until everyone was there before discussing the job. They assembled in Lothan's study, sitting in a rough semicircle against the backdrop of the overloaded bookshelves. Liada arrived next, followed by Silver Max and then the Street Deacon and Orion. Once everyone was in the study, Lothan settled into the wide chair in front of his desk. He turned the screen of the telecom unit on his desk to face into the room and hit a key on the control pad. A green light glowed on the display to show that it was in use.

"I believe that most of you know Jackie Ozone, by reputation, if nothing else," Lothan said, nodding toward the telecom. The screen lit up with the cartoonlike image of a girl with big eyes, a tiny, delicate mouth and long, dark hair, dressed in a flowing white gown and carrying a silvery wand. She bowed with a flourish of the wand, which trailed a sparkle of Stardust behind it.