“Move back from the door!” the guard yelled as he bumped into the other two men standing behind him.

Lewis took one small step back, trying to figure out where he had seen the other two men before. Suddenly it came to him. One was Fink, the other he still couldn’t place.

“That’s him, let him out!” Fink spoke, making wild gestures with both hands.

“Fink,” the other man said smoothly. “You know I am not able to do that. We have an investigation to complete. What I will do is try to speed it up.”

“No secretary, what you will do is have your man here to open this door and drop everything,” Fink said in a low, menacing tone. “Or you will have to explain to the lord mayor why the deal is off.”

“What deal?” the man looked a little concerned.

“The deal between the lord mayor and my sister. She sent me to get this guy and if you’re not willing to let him out,” Fink put on an exaggeratedly worried expression. “She’s going to be really ticked off, hell she’ll probably cancel the deal. Besides we both know that if Heflik is behind this, it’s probably the result of his temper. You’re going to spend a whole lot of money investigating it and it’s going to turn out to be nothing.”

“All right, I will let him out but then we’re even, don’t come asking for anything else,” the man exclaimed. “And what about these other two?”

Lewis nodded discretely to Fink.

“Just let them out too,” Fink looked thoughtful. “Port Mist probably doesn’t need problems with their big mucky-mucks. If you sign the Lieutenant out, all charges dropped and leave…”

“Would you please shut up!” the other man shouted in exasperation, and then to the guard in a more civil tone he said. “Let them out and give them their belongings.”

The guard unlocked the door and stood behind it while they filed out. In the front office the secretary filled out some paper work and they signed for their belongings. When they walked out onto the street the sky spoke of the coming morning in light gray tones.

“How about some breakfast?” Fink asked. “The Grand Isle is right around the corner.”

As they ate, Fink told Lewis about visiting some friends who lived in the rubble on the east side of Ladzoo. He said that he had fallen and hurt his leg, causing him to miss the boat that morning when the team had left Ladzoo with Captain Inu. He went on to explain that his friends had carried him across the bridge to Fingers’ warehouse, in fact he never stopped talking.

When they arrived at the house Lewis knocked on the door and Blair opened it.

“What are you doing here?” Lewis asked.

“Rollins requested my help and Roquette granted that request, sir,” Blair looked embarrassed.

“Where is Rollins?” Lewis wanted to know.

“Right this way sir,” Blair held the door open and gestured with a clumsy flourish.

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Rollins was in his office doing paperwork. He stood as Lewis entered, standing stiffly at attention as the officers walked in.

Lewis reassured him. “At ease, I trust things are going well here.”

“Yes, we are beginning to make money here sir,” he turned around a makeshift ledger that was on the desk so Lewis could look at it. “And Roquette left some more funding. What we really need is more people, I have seven here including Shawn. I’m going to be sending him to Ascore to acquire space there for Team Romeo. I’ve hired a crew for the new ship, and some folks from Hillar have booked cargo space to Ladzoo. I hope to be ready to move to Ascore in the next few months.”

Lewis introduced his two new companions, then Fink expressed the opinion that they should leave if they were going to catch up with the others in Landee.

“I did the math,” Blair said. “There should be plenty of time. What are you worried about?”

“You just never know what will happen,” Fink fidgeted. “A little holdup here and there and pretty soon you’re late. That’s why I think we should leave when we can, besides it’s always better to be moving than sitting.”

Lewis had a feeling Fink wasn’t telling them everything but didn’t see the harm in going along with him. “So, how soon do you think we could leave here?”

“I have a boat waiting,” Fink said. “And I’m afraid he’ll leave without us if we are not down there before mid-day. He’s fast and I don’t think we could find a better ride in Port Mist.”

Both of Lewis’ companions looked like they wanted to leave, so he wrapped things up with Rollins. He had to sign a few papers and retrieve his pack and some credit vouchers. The defenders had also left a backpack for Victor with Rollins. He wished them well and the travelers went on their way.

At the dock they found a team of Port Mist’s militia questioning everyone about where they were going and occasionally looking in somebody’s bag. Fink called out to one of them by name, then the two of them stood off to the side and spoke quietly for a while. Then they shook hands and the militia went one way, while Fink took Lewis and the sailors off in the other direction.

“What did you say to that man?” Wilsey asked.

“I just reminded him of all the good times we had back in the old days,” Fink smiled convincingly. “And he became quite eager to help us get on our way.”

Wilsey looked puzzled. “Let’s see if I understand this, he was not their team leader, right?”

Fink nodded. “Right.”

“And their duty,” Wilsey continued. “Was to stop us and ask questions, and possibly look in our packs.”

Fink nodded again.

“So, why didn’t they do it?” Wilsey asked.

“Probably because my friend vouched for us,” Fink said. “And their leader decided that there were enough other people to harass, and it saved time to let us go.”

Wilsey shook his head slightly and looked troubled.

“Listen man, I’ve never been part of any military, so maybe I’m missing something, but this seems like the best possible outcome,” Fink told him. “Maybe John can help you.”

“I think what we have here is a cultural difference,” Lewis answered. “Do you have a specific question?’

“Yes sir,” Wilsey said. “How is it that something like that could cause a good soldier to not perform his prescribed duty?”

“Keep in mind that I’m still learning the ropes here, but it seems to me,” Lewis said, thoughtfully. “That the people here have only recently come to enjoy a measure of safety. Therefore they have had to rely on each other, leading to a culture where personal relationships are very important. Also, in places like Ladzoo and Port Mist the soldiers have only been serving for a while, they are not trained with the ultimate goal of spending their life in the service. The mindset is completely different than it would be in a place where the military is everything.”

Lewis noticed that Victor was nodding and asked. “Do you think it would have gone the same in Wutanna?”

“No sir,” Victor replied vehemently, and then added. “Have you ever been there, Mister Fink?”

Fink smiled and nodded. “One must be a little more persuasive there.”

“Are you saying that the Defender guards are corrupt also?” Victor asked, looking more hurt than anything.

“Folks is folks, wherever you go,” Fink said.