They angled down. The sails disappeared back over the horizon and the race continued. The mist clung about a handful of low, round islands, scattered like potatoes hurled from a bucket. There were about twenty of them, most just uninhabitable wet brown rock.

'How long has it been since the shipwreck?' asked Fyn-Mah.

'Nine days.'

Fyn-Mah shivered. 'I wouldn't last two days down there. I'm going back to the watch bowl. Keep an eye out for smoke.'

'They'd have the fire out now,' said Irisis. 'If they had one.'

'From sea level they wouldn't be able to see the fleet.'

'But they could see us,' said Irisis. 'We're still not going fast enough.'

Go right down,' the perquisitor said to Inouye. 'Just skim the waves.'

Inouye turned her head, and her eyes seemed to take up half her small face. 'If a gust drops us into the water, it'll tear the cabin off.'

'As low as is safe.' Fyn-Mah went back to the scrying basin.

Irisis followed her into the cabin. 'Can you tell which island it is?'

'No.'

Irisis couldn't stand the inactivity. She went back and stood next to the pilot. They did seem to be making more headway this altitude. Shortly Flangers appeared, relaying a minute change of course. Inouye moved the steering arm slightly and checked the heading against her lodestone.

'Which island are we heading for?' Irisis asked. This low, they could see nothing but mist.

A group of three in a line,' Inouye said softly, ducking her head to avoid Irisis's eye. She moved to her left, opening the space between them.

What was it about the little pilot? She was agonisingly shy and kept everyone at a distance. And doubtless she's afraid of me, Irisis decided. I've got powerful friends; I can choose. She has to do what she's told. It's taken her away from friends, family, man and children, and she'll probably never see them again. They may have been killed simply because Inouye had obeyed Fyn-Mah's orders, and she could do nothing about it.

'How many children do you have?' Irisis said.

'Two!' Inouye whispered.

'How old are they?'

'Sann is three and a half. Mya will be two . . , next week.' She looked away, gripping the steering arm so hard that her hand shook.

Irisis did not know what to say.

The sails appeared on the horizon, two ships close together. 'Do thev have him?' said Irisis.

No one answered. It was impossible to tell.

'Go up a trifle, Inouye,' Irisis went on. 'Flangers, run back to Fyn-Mah.’

The first island grew swiftly. It was shaped like a bean with a bite out of it. Beyond it lay another, like a grey dishrag crumpled on a floor; then the third, an oval plate piled high in the middle. The two ships were passing the third island.

'They're gone past without stopping,' said Muss. 'Curve round towards the second island and the crystal will tell us which one it is.'

'It'll be the middle one, of course,' said Irisis.

So it proved to be. By the time they approached the island, which was at best a third of a league across, the vessels had dropped anchor outside the reefs and were launching boats through a gap for the shore. Other sails converged on them, though Irisis judged they would be too late to play any part in this drama.

'We've still got the advantage,' said Fyn-Mah, abandoning the scrying bowl. 'We can search the island from the air before they get to shore.'

'I doubt if we can do it before they reach us!' Irisis pointed.

A pair of air-floaters had appeared in the north-east quarter, rising from a group of islands a few leagues away. Signal mirrors flashed between ships and air-floaters, which turned in their direction.

Fyn-Mah snatched her spyglass out of Flangers's hand and began to sweep it back and forth across the second island. 'I can't see anyone. But Flydd's got to be there.'

'Perhaps the crystal is picking up some other kind of signal, or even a node,' Irisis speculated.

'Don't!' the perquisitor said savagely.

They soared over the dishrag hump in the middle of the island, a ragged hill some hundred spans high. The exposed rock was bare of anything taller than moss, though the sheltered gullies on the leeward side contained scrub.

'That's where they'll be,' said Flangers. 'Somewhere in that gully. Look out for smoke.'

They went over the top and drifted down the valley. The scrub was grey and wind-twisted. There was nothing so grand as a tree, the tallest plants being bushy and only a couple of spans high.

Two boats have landed,' Muss called. 'The third is coming pound the point. If Flydd and Nish are here, they'd better show themselves quickly.'

They could be hiding from us,' Flangers observed, 'thinking that we're part of Ghorr's force. Irisis, why don't you stand at the front — he'll recognise you.'

She did so, letting her yellow hair stream out in the wind. They went all the way down the gully to the shore. Nothing. Irisis had to climb down, for her nose and cheeks had gone numb. She warmed them with her palms.

"Turn around,' cried Fyn-Mah. 'Go back up.'

'Have you seen something?' Irisis called.

'No,' she said in a strangled voice.

They returned to the summit, drifting just a few spans above the ground. 'Where else could they be?' Fyn-Mah had bitten through her lower lip.

'Why don't you check the bloody crystal!' Irisis snapped.

Fyn-Mah ran back to the cabin. Irisis followed, but even from the door she could see that the needle was jerking back and forth. 'Perhaps we're directly above them.'

The perquisitor hadn't thought of that. 'I'll see what I can do. Keep a lookout.'

Irisis gazed down at the pair of boats, which were empty. Soldiers were already storming up the ridge. A third of the way up, a pair of big men were staggering under the weight of a javelard. Behind and below the air-floater, the third boat was riding the surf to shore. The two enemy air-floaters were closing rapidly and a third now appeared, well back. Signals were exchanged between them with flags.

Irisis had the feeling that they were looking in the wrong place. A couple of smaller gullies ran down from the summit on this side, and others back in the direction of the ships. 'Check the other gullies,' she rapped to Inouye.

'The pilot was trembling like a rush in a gale. Irisis pitied Inouye. For herself, she had been in so many desperate situations that this one had no impact at all. She just felt empty.

The third boat had landed on the south-western side of the island and the troops were unloading another javelard, fitting a spear and winding back the cranks. Inouye ran the air-floater down the second gully and up the third, but they saw no sign of any living thing. 'Where can they be?' said Fyn-Mah, dashing from stern to bow, then back along the other side. Most of the island was bare rock.

'Run north around the shoreline, a few spans high,' said Flangers. 'There may be a cave.'

Inouye turned away from the boat. Its javelard fired but the spear fell short.

'Quick!' cried Flangers. 'It'll have the range next time.'

They sped down the coast, which was rocky as far as Irisis could see. There was no sign of a cave, or even a large crevice beneath the rocks.

They rounded the northern curve of the island. The two ships were anchored offshore on the eastern side, half a league away, and the soldiers two-thirds of the way up the hill. The air-floaters were coming fast, with the advantage of the wind. Inouye brought the machine up a few spans and turned, giving them a view all the way around the island. The third boat, having disgorged its troops, was rowing furiously towards them, parallel to the shore. A soldier stood at the bow, ready with a crossbow.

'They're not here,' said Irisis dully.

'They've got to be. Keep going.' Fyn-Mah had gained control of herself. Her arms were folded across her chest and she wore her customary impassive expression.