He was surprised when he opened his eyes and looked at his watch to see that eight hours had passed already.

Telini and Blair sat in the kitchenette talking quietly. When Lewis walked in, they nodded and Blair pulled out a chair. He sat as Telini poured him a cup of what passed for coffee here.

“Where is everyone?” Lewis asked.

“Rollins and Derrik went to look around the docks,” Telini informed him. “Roquette and Gomez went back to talk to the magic shop guy.”

“I’m headed over to see Councilor Koker and Captain Inu,” Lewis said. “And then maybe Secretary Spealer, you two can accompany me. I might need to send you on some tasks as the day progresses.”

Outside a fresh breeze spoke of cooler days ahead. After a block or so he spotted a man who was obviously very important and was flanked on each side by muscle. The man’s large frame was covered by a well fitting business suit and he was wearing what appeared to be new custom made shoes. His body guards were wearing long coats and short brimmed hats, if they had weapons they were not visible. Lewis moved respectfully to the right side of the street. Instead of passing by, the man turned and faced him.

The man in the suit said. “Are you Lieutenant Lewis?”

Lewis came to attention. “Yes sir. And you are?”

“My name is Dennis Tankrauli. I came down here to see you,” Tankrauli said. “We need to talk, how about at the café?” He nodded toward an open door nearby.

“Sure,” Lewis responded. “But I’m a little tight on time.”

“Aren’t we all?” Tankrauli said pleasantly. “This won’t take long.”

The crowd in the café did its best to move out of their way as they squeezed in. As they stood inside for a few minutes, a large table became available. The people at the table stood up and started moving toward the door. Tankrauli smiled and nodded to the table. His men took their places flanking him; Lewis sat opposite with Blair on his left and Telini on the right.

“So,” Lewis asked. “What can we do for you?”

“I hear that you, or your company, are looking for sailors,” Tankrauli said. “And I wanted to make a recommendation.”

“I’m always happy to receive advice,” Lewis replied, wondering what this guy’s angle was.

“Good man, OK. Are you planning on sailing to Dontil?” Tankrauli asked directly.

“May I ask what makes this a subject of interest to you,” Lewis countered. “I mean why would such an obviously distinguished fellow such as yourself care about somebody who’s just passing through?”

“Because my job is to take care of the workers of this city,” Tankrauli said flatly. “And I hear that your Captain Inu has been recruiting sailors on the streets and hasn’t come to our offices yet.”

Lewis looked back across the table and hoped his irritation didn’t show. “And what office is that?”

“The Mist Bay Brotherhood of Workers, Port Mist office,” Tankrauli said. “And we supply the labor force that keeps Port Mist, Haldon and the surrounding area running. And now we are providing for a whole bunch of widows because of a situation that could have been avoided. We’ve tried to tell Secretary Spealer to wait a little while so that things cool down before making another run to Dontil. You seem more reasonable than Spealer, so I’m asking you to consider two things, one, when you need workers to accomplish a task for the government come to the office. Two, it would be better to buy grain somewhere else, such as Fort Dilson maybe.”

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“Mister Tankrauli, are you telling me that those people died because of an avoidable situation that somebody knew existed?” Lewis asked. “And if you knew something was up, then why did you let those workers go on that trip?”

“We did not know about the danger soon enough,” Tankrauli sighed. “But we think that some of the secretaries were aware of the risk ahead of time. For some reason, either political or monetary, they allowed those ships to sail without warning anyone.”

“Doesn’t Port Mist need the grain regardless of the risk? I mean I thought the situation was dire.” Lewis said matter of factly. “I agree that folks deserve to know the risk, but sometimes things just have to be done.”

“These people are civilians, Lieutenant!” Tankrauli banged his fist on the table. “You can’t expect them to go to war like soldiers marching off to their deaths.”

“Mister Tankrauli, unless you are able to inform us of a credible threat then I don’t think this meeting is going to be productive for either of us,” Lewis pushed back his chair as he spoke.

“Wait, wait,” Tankrauli sounded more conciliatory. “I’m sorry I was excited, but this is a deeply personal issue. If you walk away now DeLeah Shipping is going to have a hard time getting established in Port Mist, you need to hire some people through the office here, as a goodwill gesture if nothing else. Will you at least do that for me?”

“I’ll talk to the boss, it’s really not my call,” Lewis told him. “Are you able to tell me why you think those secretaries sat on the information about the threat?”

“Because they pushed so hard to send our ships on fairly short notice and I don’t know about you but I don’t believe in coincidence,” Tankrauli replied.

“There are probably hundreds of other meetings taking place right now, that’s a coincidence. If you think that they committed murder through their in action, why don’t you call them on it in public,” Lewis concluded. “Otherwise let’s feed this city and its guests.”

Tankrauli’s face darkened a little, but he kept his temper in check. “I hope we will be able to work together, as it would be good for everyone,” he sat back in his chair. “Be careful out there, Lieutenant.”

On the street, Blair shook his head. “Wow, that guy sure wanted us to do things his way.”

“That’s what he is paid to do,” Telini said, and they argued about the virtues of Tankrauli’s approach for a couple of blocks, while Lewis pondered the implications of what he had said. He decided to see Inu first. When he got to the ship Inu was talking to two men at the bottom of the gang plank.

“No, I won’t let you come aboard,” Inu was saying. “And if I understand Port Mist’s laws I can hire a sailor any way I want.”

“We're not talking about a sailor,” one of the men said. “We heard you were trying to raise entire ship crews.”

When the three of them walked up to the group, the men fell silent. One turned to Lewis and the others.

“Here now, who are you?” He asked in a rough tone. “This is none of your affair, so keep walking”

Lewis kept walking, until he was within two feet of the man and matched his tone.

“Greetings, my name is Lieutenant Lewis,” he told the man. “And I just came from talking to Mr. Tankrauli; everything is taken care of. Don’t threaten Captain Inu again.”

The man’s face turned into an unreadable mask, and he turned to his companion and nodded down the street. Together they backed up four steps, turned and strode off.

Captain Inu waited until they were down the street a ways, and then he told Lewis. “Those buggers were really starting to irritate me.”

“Yeah, and it may get worse. When do you need the birds to be in Fort Dilson?” Lewis asked.

“Yesterday would be about right; I’ve lost a few of them already.” Inu replied. “Why? What do you have in mind?”

“I‘m thinking you deliver your cargo, pick up merchandise and meet us in Dontil,” said Lewis. “And before you say it, we’ll be fine here. It’s all logistics from here on out.”

“You’re sure?” the captain asked. When Lewis nodded Inu gestured, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. The men on deck disappeared from the rail and in a few minutes were climbing the rigging and running around the deck.

“We need to get the rest of our stuff, permission to come aboard?” Lewis said, suddenly remembering the chest.