Breeze jumped from the manisaur’s head and ran along the alley around the curve with Jupiter and Maggie close behind.

Looking back Jupiter could see they were beyond sight of pursuers.

‘Breeze. You know the way back to the outrigger?’

‘Know… Place… Yes…’

‘You’re a lot faster than us. I want you to go ahead, warm Tamm. Get The Jupiter ready to sail. And make a big racket as you run. Be a nuisance. Draw them away.’

‘Can… Noise… Go…’ Breeze said. ‘Jupiter… See… Two…’

‘Split up?’ Maggie said. ‘No. We should stick together.’

‘Breeze will be more helpful this way. Come on.’ Jupiter ran ahead leaving Maggie no option but to chase after. Breeze kept pace a while and then he sprang through a gap in the buildings and bounded ahead.

‘Down here.’ Jupiter ducked into a side alley off the one they had been following.

Jupiter gasped to catch his breath and looked around. The smooth stone slabs cover a drain here too. Either side of the narrow alley the lowest part of the buildings were made of a similar close fitted stone with a ledge dividing the rest of the building from the drainage system.

The cries of the neighbourhood came to them like starlings at sunset echoing around the stone walls. A rippling ululation of surprise, fear, and anger seemed to be carried in the calls.

‘The Blackbirders are still hunting. But I’ve got to get my breath back’

A series of ladder-like stones set in the building’s wall led to an upper floor ledge.

‘Up there,’ Jupiter said and reached high over his head, braced himself the opposite side of the alley, and boosted himself to the shelf just above head height. ‘I can still see the alley entrance. Maybe even tell if we’re followed when they pass.’

‘But we’ll be trapped.’

‘We can’t keep up this running. Hiding might have worked before, except for that pooing manisaur.’ Jupiter reached down from the ledge and helped Maggie up. They lay down, out of sight from below, but Jupiter peeked up enough to see the opening of the alley.

Behind him Maggie tried a door set into the side of the building. She rattled it, but it did not open.

‘Shh Maggie. They’re coming and will hear you.’

Manisaur shouts and cries echoed down the alley. Jupiter shifted nervously. Then Maggie gasped.

Jupiter whipped his head around and saw Maggie’s feet disappear into the hatch. He turned to see what had happened just as the stamping of running manisaurs drew near. A human head appeared from the hatch door.

‘Come. You will be found.’

Jupiter thought for a heartbeat, a not very long time since his heart thumped so fast. Then he slipped into the darkness inside the building.

‘What are you children doing here?’ The voice spoke Thaluk. ‘Running from Imperials no less.’

The neighbourhood alarm became quieter inside the building but still rang in the background.

‘We just wanted to get some supplies,’ Maggie said.

The air in room shifted and flowed with the heavy scent of spices and herbs, but under it hung the familiar stink of the harbour.

‘Supplies? You were shopping in the market. What foolishness is this?’

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Jupiter’s eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. Light came from the opened hatch but also through a large manhole in the floor. A human woman’s outline glowed as she stepped into view through the floor opening.

‘Come down here and into the light where I can see you,’ she said.

Jupiter glanced towards the still open hatch where he knew both escape and danger lay. Before he could make a decision though Maggie stepped down the ladder from the loft. So, with little choice, Jupiter followed. It did not seem likely a human would surrender them to the Blackbirder thugs.

An old human woman, at least fifty years old, stood next to a desk. A manisaur sat at desk and gazed at him with an aura that flashed surprise and concern. They pointed a pen at him as if about to speak when the door burst open and another manisaur dashed in.

‘Blackbirders. Searching the streets.’ The young manisaur panted and their inner eye-lid flicked across in counterpoint to their alarmed aura flashes.

‘They’re no Blackbirders,’ the manisaur at the desk warbled in quiet tones. ‘Who has ever heard of Blackbirders coming to Qhayuvakham in daylight?’

‘They look and act like them…’

‘Lock that door, and close the upper hatch while you’re at it.’ The old woman sat on a stool and shifted a tray of dried leaves. ‘And when you have quietened down you tell us what you saw. Jump to it.’

The young manisaur did a double-take when he saw Maggie and Jupiter, but did not say a word as they closed the door, barred it and then bounded up to the loft to close the hatch door. A small boy about 5 years old slid down from the loft and rushed to huddle in the skirts of the woman.

Jupiter looked past the old human woman. The glare through the window came from a curving wall of white stone buildings that stretched along a quay below them. He started in surprise. An upper level room, and not the lowermost floor as he had thought. The alleyway lay partly up the slope of the hill above the harbour. And in a different, more prosperous, section of the port than where they had tied up The Jupiter.

The bright room they seemed to be an office. Paperwork and writing material spread across some low tables. The spicy herb smell rose stronger here. Bags of spices sat on the table amongst the ink and quills, a bright red powder has spilled from one bag. Shafts of light from the setting sun shot through the dusty office and made bright patches on the brown wooden floor and walls.

‘Now.’ The old woman turned to them with a look of concern. ‘These supplies. What did you need them for? I take it you are travelers?’

‘Yes,’ said Maggie. ‘We came today. For water, and…’

‘Other things. Our vessel is small and can’t carry much.’

‘A fishing boat?’

‘No. It’s smaller than that. We…’

‘A coastal ferry then? I see.’

‘Something like that.’

‘We came from Zens…’ Jupiter nudged Maggie ‘Place of…’

‘The long sand. Ze’Samifalaq.’ Jupiter said. ‘Zensamfalaq.’

The old manisaur looked at them strangely. Jupiter knew then that what they had said might have worked in Thaluk, but through connexion the exchange probably sounded weird. He said nothing but his aura throbbed with uncertainty.

‘Your family then…’ The old woman smiled. ‘Where are they?’

‘Family? No…’ Maggie trailed off.

‘Our family is waiting for us… at the boat,’ said Jupiter. ‘We have to get there soon… or…’

‘They’ll come looking.’ Maggie said with a sigh.

‘That would not be a good idea,’ said the manisaur.

‘No.’ The young manisaur had joined them now. ‘The Blackbirders…’

‘They’re no Blackbirders,’ said the old manisaur. ‘Whoever heard of Blackbirders in the middle of the day?’

‘What are they then?’ The young manisaur squatted on a bench and blinked.

‘Imperial agents I would guess,’ the old woman said. She sat and pulled the boy onto her lap. He squirmed a little until the woman wrapped him tight. ‘ Imperials. They’re up to something.’

Jupiter and Maggie exchanged a glance. The old woman took note and Jupiter winced at how bad they were at stretching the truth.

‘And why would the Imperials be looking for you?’ she said.

‘They’re not. We…’ Maggie started to say.

‘My imp stole something… and…’ Jupiter felt uncomfortable in the lie but he did not know these people. But he felt the need to say anything in order to get away and back to The Jupiter.

‘An imp? You travel with Aramqhami?’ The old woman shook her head. ‘That is foolish. But they say sometimes you have no choice.’

‘Yes. That’s it exactly.’ Jupiter nodded.

‘And there are so few humans here,’ Maggie said into the sudden quiet. ‘No one young. Except…’ she nodded at the small boy.

‘That is why I am surprised your family would visit here.’ The old woman’s voice faltered. She continued slowly. ‘Most humans have fled to the interior. To Jhalivara… or other towns far from the cities on the coast or along the larger qhayuvakdha. Anywhere away from the large cities.’

The younger manisaur paced restlessly. ‘If they are not Blackbirders, but Imperials… then perhaps they come from the skyship on the harbour pylon.’

Jupiter went to the window and looked out over the harbour. The city here stretched off to the east, away from the repair yards and the poor quarter. A large black-hulled skyship swung high over the town trees. A long red banner trailed from the peak of its middle mast. It rippled in the wind as if blood flowed from the edge of a blade.

He shuddered. ‘That is one scary skyship.’ The single pylon rose a lot lower than the mooring towers of Vanukam. It could only hold a small vessel. He paused, about to turn away, when he saw beyond the pylon the line of smaller towers connected by a looping cable. In the distance a large skyfort glided closer. He watched long enough to be sure.

‘The Air Lord’s skyfort is on the Qhawadha. It will be here tonight. We’ve got to get out of here.’